


Crumble and Fall

by Dmarie1985



Category: Josh Hutcherson - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-19
Updated: 2014-03-19
Packaged: 2018-01-16 08:29:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1338796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dmarie1985/pseuds/Dmarie1985





	1. Chapter 1

“Turn right on Ardine Street and the destination is on your left.” The sexy British male GPS voice announces through my car speakers. 

“Are you sure, Charles? This can’t be it,” I respond as if the voice can hear me. I glance at the building address on my paperwork to confirm that I’m in the right place. 4650 Ardine Street, Cudahy, CA. My GPS has led me to a run down industrial part of Los Angeles, just south of the downtown area that I’m familiar with. 

“Okay, this is it I suppose. God I hope I don’t get mugged out here,” I say to myself when I put my car in park next to the old graffiti covered brick building. There’s only one other car in the parking lot and I’m guessing it’s the photographer's. They’re always the first to arrive to a shoot. They’re such anxious creatures, always wanting to scope out the area and get their equipment set up and find the right angles for their shots.

It stinks when I open my car door. Like, really really bad. I can’t describe it. Maybe hot garbage? No, more like leftover Chinese food that has been sitting in a refrigerator that was left unplugged. “Ew,” I mutter as I walk to my trunk to grab my suitcase of supplies. I usually don’t turn my nose up at things but this is awful. I only hope the inside of the building is normal, because judging by the bars on the windows and padlock on the front door, this is not a place where I’d want to find myself at night.

I knock on the cold steel door twice and wait a few seconds for someone to let me in. I hear a beeping sound behind me. An 18 wheeler is going into reverse out of the warehouse across the street. The sound makes me think of home when I was a little girl. 

I’d ride in the front seat of one of the old Army trucks on the farm when my grandpa would take it out to the fields. I used to hate the beeping sound the truck would make. I’d always cover my ears and my grandpa would laugh at me, but now it only makes me think of him. He’d be so proud of me to see where I am today if he were still alive. 

A man who looks around 40 years old with salt and pepper hair and glasses opens the door and looks me up and down. “You Alexis?”

“Yeah,” I respond, holding up the print out of the email I got from the magazine editor a few days ago. He nods his head and opens the door wide to let me in. “I’m Rob. Come in, I’m just setting up my equipment. My assistant will be here soon and our models are coming in a half hour or so. I’ll show you to the prep area so you can set up your stuff.”

The space inside is dimly lit and I see that the different sets for the shoot have already been put together. A makeshift kitchen with an island, a bedroom set with satin sheets, a couch and two comfortable chairs plus a coffee table to make a living room set and a few plain backdrops. 

“So this is it, huh? Not bad considering the sketchy neighborhood,” I comment.

“Yeah, it’s a big open space that's affordable which is what the art director wanted. You want coffee? Water? Anything?” he offers.

“No, I’m okay, thanks.”

“Where are you from? I love your accent. My boyfriend has one just like it.”

“Oh, thank you, I’m from Tennessee, just outside of Knoxville.”

“Ahh, you’re a transplant, I love it. Been in LA long?” He leads me to an area of the warehouse that is closed off with a black curtain. The space includes everything I requested. A long table so I can lay out all my products, a large mirror, soft lighting, two chairs, and an extension cord for all my curling irons and straighteners.

“For six months or so.” I set my rolling suitcase down on the floor and unzip it so I can start unpacking my supplies. “I’ve never been at a shoot like this though.” When I offer my services for these photo shoots, it’s usually for a basic catalog, never anything this sexy and in a magazine.

“It should be fun today.” He studies me closely and picks my chin up, taking me by surprise. “Hey, have you ever modeled before?”

I violently shake my head as I take out my bag of makeup tools. This isn’t the first time I’ve been asked this by a photographer. I’ve always refused when a photographer would offer to shoot me. My ex was never really into me doing it either. “No, never.”

He crosses his arms over his chest and studies me as I stand up. “You ought to think about it. You have beautiful eyes. They’re haunting almost. Not to sound like a creep, but I’d love to shoot you sometime.”

“Thank you but no, I’d rather stay behind the scenes.” 

He chuckles and shrugs his shoulders. “Okay, suit yourself. I think I hear my assistant knocking. Let me know if you need anything.” He leaves.

“Thanks,” I smile and go back to my bag. 

In the 10 minutes it takes me to lay everything out, the stylist for the shoot along with the art director from the magazine have arrived to start their prep work. The stylist finds me and we go over the looks for the models for each set. I’ll use heavy dark colors on the female and will smudge the eye makeup and lipstick. I’ll give them both sex hair, really toussled. It will be hot. 

I’m actually pretty excited for this. Mostly because I already know the male for the shoot. It’s Josh Hutcherson. We met randomly through a mutual friend and although we’re not terribly close, we’ve hung out in the same circle of people a few times. He was a blast to be around those few times, so it will be good to get to spend time with him for the day and catch up a little. Plus, I’ve always kept it to myself but I’ve always found him to be very good looking and getting to watch him roll around and be sexy in this shoot will be a bonus.

Some time passes before the female model arrives. She’s an average sized blonde girl, who can’t be older than 20, but the bags under her eyes suggest she got very little sleep last night. She’s still smoking her cigarette and her hair is a rat’s nest on top of her head and I know I have my work cut out for me. Even though he hair is going to be messed up in the photos, it won’t work the way it sits now. She throws the peace sign to Rob and his team before shuffling into my work area and slumps down in the chair. 

“Good morning, I’m Alexis,” I greet her.

“Hey,” she mutters back. “Do me a favor and put this out for me?” She hands me her cigarette and I quickly put it out in the cement floor under me. Ugh that smell makes me want to vomit. I hope she doesn’t plan on lighting up again while I’m fixing her up. 

I start with her hair, combing out the knots on top of her head. I wish I had a wig to put on her to make this a lot easier. She tunes out the world by putting her earbuds in her ear and closing her eyes. Once her hair is manageable, I wrap it in curlers to give it body and decide to move on to her makeup.

When I reach for the primer for her face, she opens her eyes and points at her purse. “Can you get a cigarette out of my bag? And my lighter?” 

“Yeah, sure.” I reach into her bag and pull out her pack of cigarettes along with her lighter and hand them to her. I make an excuse to leave her while she smokes so I don’t have to smell it. “I’m going to use the restroom then I’ll be back to start your makeup.”

As I back out of my area, I hear commotion towards the front of the warehouse where I came in earlier. Rob’s assistant, Becca, is leading a male figure into the open space, pointing out a couple of the staged sets where the shoot will be taking place. I know right away it’s Josh just by the way he’s standing. His hands are shoved into the front pocket of his blue Univeristy of Kentucky hoodie. I have a feeling he wore it on purpose because the last time I saw him, it was during a NCAA championship game and Tennessee got shut out by UK in the last half.

I wave at him quickly before heading into the bathroom, and when I come out, Josh is in the prep area introducing himself to the stylist. 

“Do me a favor and take that sweatshirt off before I throw up. I won’t stand for this,” I say to him as I’m walking to my station.

Josh turns on his heel and smiles at me when he hears my voice. “Hey Lex!” he greets me as he walks towards me and wraps his arm around my shoulder for a quick hug. God he smells good. Like fresh laundry and man soap.

“I can’t believe you’re still bitter about that one game like, what, 2 months ago? Look, I can’t help it that Tennessee sucks and needs a new head coach, alright?” He pats my arm and I roll my eyes. 

“It was pretty clear that you guys cheated, so…”

“Ha, ok, keep telling yourself that,” he chuckles.

“It helps me sleep through the night,” I respond. A crash comes from behind the curtain where my stuff is and I remember that I have my model in there that I have to do makeup for. “I should get back to work, I’ll let you know when I’m ready to do you.” My breath catches in my chest when I realize what I just said and Josh has a sly smirk on his face. “Your hair and touch you up, I mean.”

When I go back into my work area, my curling and flat irons are both laying on the floor and the model is wiping her nose and sniffling like crazy. She also seems a little more jittery than she was before. I have a feeling I know what she just did but I’m not going to mention it. I’ve never actually seen someone use cocaine in real life but I’ve watched plenty of movies and I know what someone high on it looks like.

I pick my tools off the floor and check the curls in her hair first before starting with her face. I squeeze some primer onto a sponge and put a little on her face. I can’t help but notice that she’s shaking a little and her pupils are dilated. She’s definitely high. I’m a little worried for her physical state at this point, but I keep working.

As I start sweeping some concealer under her eyes, a small amount of blood begins to seep out of her left nostril. “Oh!” I gasp, “Your nose is bleeding, let me get you a tissue.” 

She looks at her reflection in the mirror and holds her finger up to her nose while I dig through my things for a tissue. “Shit, my dealer said this stuff wouldn’t make it bleed,” she says as she plugs her nose. 

“Are you sure you’re gonna be alright? Do you need water?” I ask her.

“I dunno.” She starts ripping the curlers out of her hair. “I don’t think I can do this today….I need to get out of here.” I’m dumbfounded when she picks up her belongings and rushes outside. Rob sees her run out and chases after her.

“What was that about?” Josh asks. He’s in the middle of buttoning a shirt and my train of thought is lost in the chest hair that pokes out of the top.

“She did coke! On my table! I’ve never had a model do that to me before.”

“It happens.” Josh shrugs it off like it’s no big deal. 

“Shit,” Rob says when he comes back in. “She left. I can’t work with people like this. I just can’t. This is the same agency that sent me the girl that was hungover a few weeks ago,” Rob tells his assistant.

The art director immediately types a few things on her phone and holds it up to her ear. “I’ll see if someone else from another agency can come down. I’m so sorry about this.”

“No...wait.” Rob looks at me, studying me carefully. Then he looks at the sets, then to the dressing area where Josh is talking to the stylist. Then back to me. “Put the phone down, we have someone right here who can do it.”

“I… I can’t….” I sputter as he walks towards me and puts his hands on my shoulders. 

“Trust me, honey, you can do this, you’re a little bombshell. I can see it. And those eyes, oh yes! I need you, please?” He begs and begs and even offers me a little extra money under the table on top of whatever the other model would have made for this shoot.

I've never even done a regular photoshoot before let alone a “risque” one. I can't be sexy. Any of my ex boyfriends can attest to that. And I can't be sexy around Josh. It would feel so awkward rubbing up on him, pretending to be intimate, having his leg on my thigh... actually it doesn't sound like such a bad idea.

But all these people will be watching me, judging me, telling me to move a certain way? I can’t do it. I look at Josh who is watching me freak out and make an ass of myself. He casually walks over to me, scratching his nose and shoves his hands into the front pocket of his hoodie.

“No one is forcing you to do this. They can easily just call up the agency and get another model to do it. But it would hold everything up to have to wait for a new person.”

I sigh and look around the warehouse trying to make up my mind. Rob’s assistant is scrambling to come up with something and the art director is patiently waiting for me. 

“I’m not sexy,” I protest.

He’s amused at my response. “Ha! And you think I am?”

“You’re an actor, you can be sexy at the flip of a switch. It’s not natural for me, especially when all these people will be watching.”

He steps closer to me and licks his lips. His voice is just above a whisper and I can smell the minty gum he’s been chewing and my mind starts spiraling being this close to him. “Look, this is my first time doing something like this so I’m just as nervous as you are. And if it makes you feel comfortable, while we’re doing the shoot, we can pretend we’re all alone. It will just be the two of us, okay? We already know each other, so no pressure.”

Even with his calming nature and encouragement, I still don’t think I have the guts to do something like this . “I....I don’t know Josh, this...” I stammer before he cuts me off by placing his hand on my arm.

“Hey, you can do this. And for the record, I’ve always thought you were very sexy.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Hmmph, thanks.” I let out another sigh and take another look at the stylist who is sorting through the rack of clothes, then back to Josh. I catch him looking me up and down and he licks his lips again when he knows that I saw him. 

“If anything, Lex, it’s extra money. I think I remember you saying something about saving for a new car, right?”

He's right. I could use the extra cash. LA is a lot more expensive than at home in Tennessee. And it's just a few photos. It can’t hurt. If I listen to Rob's direction, I guess it should be fairly easy. 

“Alright, fine. I’ll do it,” I holler to Rob over Josh’s shoulder.

“Thank you!” Rob praises me for agreeing to do this. He runs over to where I’m standing and wraps his arms around me. “You’re a saint.”

“It’s no problem,” I smile, looking back to Josh whose lips curl into a simple smile. I just hope I don’t regret what I’m about to do. 

“Alright, we’re ready to get hot in here,” Rob announces to everyone there and I suddenly feel nauseous. 

Can I do this? I look at Josh who is being whisked away by the stylist to get his clothes ready for the shoot. The art director comes to me, snapping me out of my trance and explains about the shoot so I’ll know how to act on camera. Act on camera? I thought I was just supposed to stand there and whatever...run my hands through Josh’s hair or something while Rob did his thing with the camera.

Oh no, that’s not the extent of it. There will be a film crew coming in to FILM the shoot to get a behind the scenes look and interview Josh about his upcoming movie. So now I get to make a fool of myself and millions of people on the internet will get to see it and wonder where the hell they found a model who doesn’t know what she’s doing.

A couple hair and makeup artists are brought in, one for myself and one to do Josh since we’re pressed for time. Before I know it, the girl doing my hair and makeup is tousling my hair and sweeping black eyeshadow and lipstick on my face. It’s the same look I was going to do on the model who bailed on the shoot. I’m given a black lacy bra, a pair of black short shorts and a men’s white dress shirt to change into and the stylist unbuttons the majority of the buttons on my shirt and tells me I’m good to go. 

I don’t even recognize myself in the mirror when I look at the finished product. I look like I just spent three straight days in the sack making wild passionate love to Fabio or something. The clothes I’m wearing make me feel so exposed, like I’m on display for the whole world to see. I wouldn’t even walk around my own house dressed in something like this. Thankfully, I’m given a robe to put over myself since it’s a bit cold in the warehouse. 

“Are you ready?” the voice of Becca, Rob’s assistant comes into the dressing area through the curtain.

“Yeah,” I tell her and pull the curtain back and follow her across the warehouse to the kitchen set for the first round of photos.

Josh is already in place doing a couple test shots with Rob. The way he looks under the lights, with his hair slicked back and in the denim jacket and black shirt under it with pair of tight jeans makes it hard for me to look at anything other than him. I was self conscious about how I look in what I’m wearing, but looking at Josh now, I realize the attention won’t be on me at all. He’s the one everyone’s eyes will be on. Including mine.

Rob glances at me when I step closer and puts his camera down on a nearby table. “Wow, Alexis, looking super fabulous. I am so pumped for this. Come over here darling.” He reaches for my hand and pulls me onto the set. Right away, he can tell that I’m scared out of my mind. I stare at Josh who is pretending to listen to an interviewer with the film crew but his eyes are focused on me. I can read his thoughts and he’s just counting down to the moment when I drop the robe that is covering me.

“Don’t be scared, just listen for my cues and you’ll be fine, okay? You’re an angel for doing this.” He pats my shoulder and moves back to his position. “Josh, we’re ready to get started. Alexis, Becca will take your robe, you won’t need it.” 

My eyes don’t leave Josh’s as I untie my robe and he gives me a reassuring nod and I let it fall off my shoulders and hand it to Becca. He gnaws on his bottom lip and smiles to himself as he looks to see what I’m wearing. 

“Josh, stand up with your back against the island. Alexis, stand with your back facing me and wrap your arms around his waist.”

Josh gets into position and leans his arms on the counter behind him. When I step up to him, I turn my head toward Rob and make sure I’m in a good spot. My nerves have me shaking. All I can hear is the sound of chatter from the people who surround us. It’s like an annoying buzz in my ear.

Josh is so comfortable in this environment though. He drops his hands as I wrap my arms around him, as instructed. It’s cold with just a shirt on, but his body is warm pressed up against mine and I can do nothing but relish in how he feels.

He senses that I’m still scared and rubs his hands up and down my back to comfort me a little. I don’t remember the last time someone held me like this. I close my eyes as the hair stylist comes to fluff my hair and even though my eyes are shut, I feel Josh staring at me.

“Ok, we’re ready. Josh, put your head on her shoulder, keep rubbing her back too like that and look up at me,” I hear Rob say from behind me.

“Remember, it’s just the two of us,” he whispers and rests his chin on my shoulder. I feel his hand slide down my back slowly, sending shivers up my spine. I shift my stance just a little so that I’m right up against him.

I hear the clicks of Rob’s camera and close my eyes again. I imagine that Josh is eye fucking the camera while his hands are on me. I could stand here wrapped up in him for days, taking in his scent, nuzzling my face into his chest. This is turning me on and I’m not sure if it should or not.

Several flashes of light come from behind me before Rob tells Josh to put his mouth on my ear like he’s kissing it. I feel his stubble and hot breath on my skin and I feel like my legs are going to give out at any second. For a moment I lose sense of where I am and I have to tighten my grip on Josh’s waist.

“Now trade places. Lexi, sit up on the counter,” Rob instructs as he and his assistants move their equipment to a different angle. 

“You’re doing good,” Josh whispers to me as he gives me a hand and lifts me up onto the counter.

“Thanks, I’m not really sure what I’m doing. This is all so new to me.” My face hasn’t even been shot yet and I feel like I’m making a fool out of myself.

“You’ll get more comfortable, it takes time.”

“And I’m hungry,” I tell him, putting my hand over my grumbling stomach.

He chuckles a little. “Yeah, me too.”

“Are you guys ready?” Rob asks now that he’s in position. Josh and I both nod and wait for Rob’s cue. “Josh, step in between her legs. And Lexi, gab the collar of his jacket like you’re pulling him towards you. And look into each other’s eyes, like really intense, like you’re pissed at each other.”

Josh steps close to me and unexpectedly places his hand on my thigh, making me jump. I hope it’s not evident on my face that I’m horny as fuck right now. It’s been a few months since I’ve had sex or even had someone within a few inches of my entrance, so I’m overcome with a rush of hormones. I grip the collar of his jacket and glare at him as if he just killed my favorite pet. His top lip curls up in a snarl and it takes every ounce of willpower I have to not start laughing. This is so awkward but so incredibly hot at the same time. 

I see flashes come with every click of Rob’s camera and slowly, we move in synchronization, getting comfortable touching each other just a little more. It’s becoming a little less unnerving now and I kind of like it. 

“Okay, I want you to go ahead and start making out, really get into it but go nice and slow so I can get the shots I need.” 

The butterflies in my stomach start going out of control. This guy is doing things to me that I didn’t think were possible. As soon as Rob tells us to go, Josh turns into this sex god before my eyes. His approach is slow but eager. He first eyes me up as a lion does to its prey then he makes his move. 

One hand is still on my thigh while the other gently caresses my cheek before wrapping around my neck and he uses his thumb to tilt my chin up slightly. Already I can feel the room spinning in circles around us. I focus on nothing else but the way his hands feel on my skin, the way his eyes look into mine with so much passion. He has me under his spell.

He takes one more glance at Rob who is snapping photos furiously and saying, “Yeah that’s good, just like that. Go slow.”

Then he goes in for the kill with one long, lingering kiss. His lips are as I imagined - soft, warm, wet and tasting a little like the cherry Coke he had been drinking before we stepped onto the set. The second he pulls away to take a breath, I want more of him, right here and now. I feel a thirst that I have never known before and I take charge, pulling him close so I can fulfill my need to taste him again.

I lose myself in his touch, completely ignoring the fact that there are cameras and several sets of eyes watching us. My arms wrap around his neck and I hear his breath grow rapid as our kisses heat up. He’s just as eager as I am. I hear Rob’s camera but I don’t lose my focus. Josh moves closer towards me as we continue to kiss. His tongue slowly glides across my bottom lip asking for permission and then into my mouth when I part my lips to let him in. My hands run up and down his back, his arms, all of him. I’m getting so turned on by this. 

I can feel my cheeks begin to flush and my panties are getting wetter by the second. I wrap my legs around his waist to draw him into me and he moves from my mouth to my neck, using his hand to tilt my head to the side. He lets out a small grunt and pushes the bowls and pots and pans behind me aside and starts to lay me back onto the countertop. I’m seriously ready to let him take me right here, until Rob says “I think we’re good! Wow. You two….wow.”

Josh’s cheeks are flushed and his hair is a bit messed up from my hands going through it. I’m almost in a trance when he steps away. He pulls me up to stand and helps me off the counter and we’re both out of breath from getting so hot and heavy. It feels like I just got off a roller coaster ride and it’s one that I want to go on 10 more times, but we have to move on to the next set. 

The majority of the next couple hours is a blur to me. I’m whisked away into hair and makeup after almost every set and constantly changing my clothes. The only parts I remember are the ones when Josh’s lips are on mine. 

I’m eventually put into almost nothing, having to wrap a sheet around me for the bedroom set. Josh and I are so natural together rolling around on top of the mattress. We get to a point where we really don’t even need much direction from Rob. But in the middle of the shoot, we’re so intense with each other, that Josh needs to stop to collect himself.

“Wait, I need a second,” he says as he crawls onto his knees, holding the sheets over his waist. 

“Are you okay?” Rob asks before telling his assistant to get him a bottle of water.

“Yup, I’m good. Just need a minute, it’s hot in here,” he tells him. He looks at me and wonders why I look so confused. “You’re good. Got me a little too excited. You know...” he gestures down to his crotch where I see the fabric of his underwear is starting to tent.

“Oh! God...sorry.” I’m not surprised, he is a 21 year old guy after all.

“It happens. I was just starting to lose my concentration for a second.” He takes a few deep breaths and gestures to Rob that he’s ready to continue. 

We go back at it again, pretending we’re fucking like rabbits. Josh’s hands know exactly where to go on my body. He knows the right ways to look at me and then to the camera. When we kiss, he uses his tongue in many different ways, curling it upward, swirling it around my mouth, gliding it over my lips. I don’t doubt for a second that he’s amazing in bed. 

Once Rob and the art director are satisfied with the hundreds of photos we shot throughout the day, I’m told I can put my normal clothes back on and pack up the stuff I brought with me. I step out of the changing area with my suitcase in hand and see that Josh is shaking hands with the art director. He’s back in his hoodie and jeans and is twirling his car keys on his index finger.

“Ahh, see, not totally painful, was it?” he asks, patting me on the back.

“It...was fun. But a lot of work. I’m tired.” 

After I say my goodbyes to the crew, Josh holds the steel door open for me and lets me walk out ahead of him. The sun is just going down in the sky, casting a beautiful orange glow over the buildings around us. Josh and I walk in silence to our cars. I’m busy replaying everything that just happened in my head and he is scrolling through his phone. 

“So, um, I don’t have your number do I?” he asks when we reach the parking lot. “We’ll have to hang out sometime.”

“Hang out?” I’m shocked he wants to spend more time with me. This doesn’t happen too often. I pop open my trunk and place my suitcase inside before closing it. 

“Yeah. Like, play sports or watch a movie or….something.” I can tell he’s getting flustered by my reaction to him asking for my number. He scratches the back of his neck and unlocks his car with the button on his keys. I let out a small laugh at how cute he’s being and unlock my driver’s side door.

“Yeah, um....you can get my number from Ashley, she has it. I’m already late to meet my roommate, so…”

“Oh. Yeah. I’ll get it from her and call you or something.”

“Yeah. You do that.” I slide into my car and start the engine and roll the window down. “I’ll see you around, Josh.”


	3. Chapter 3

-JOSH-

 

Hey trouble, what’s Lexi’s number?  I type into my phone to Ashley the second Alexis drives away. Why didn’t she just give it to me herself? Maybe she didn’t want me to have it or maybe she’s playing hard to get. I’m up for the challenge, she’s totally worth it if she wants me to chase her. But she and I both know that there’s some kind of spark between us. There’s no denying it. Anyone with eyes can see it.

 

As an actor, you become good at reading people, and I read all the signs on Lexi’s face during the shoot. She wasn’t just kissing me and touching me like that because she cared about getting good photos, she wanted something more. 

 

I haven’t been in a serious, genuine relationship, one that wasn’t paraded around in the media, for the longest time. I’ll be 22 in the fall and it’s time I start figuring out what kind of person I want to be with for the rest of my life. It may make me seem sappy or weak or whatever, but I don’t care. I want to be able to come home from shooting a movie and have my other half there waiting with open arms, and maybe with a couple kids. This is the kind of stuff I imagine before I go to bed at night, I just don’t tell anyone about it.

 

[ 865-545-3188 ](http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-865-545-3188) why?  Ashley writes back and I put the number in my phone’s contacts. There, that wasn’t so hard.

 

We had a shoot together today, I had fun and I kind of like her, she said I should get her number from you. Maybe I’ll ask her out.

 

Ok well if you’re thinking of dating her, you should like REALLY think about what you’re getting yourself into before you go for her.

 

I read her message over a couple times. What does that mean? It’s too much to do over text, so I just hit the phone button and wait for her to pick up. When she answers, I continue with what I was going to type. “Hey, what do you mean, getting myself into?”

 

Ashley sighs on the other end, “Listen Josh, you’re my friend so I’m just gonna give it to you straight. Lexi is damaged, like, her heart is completely shut off to the idea of dating anyone. There’s a reason she moved out here, maybe she can tell you about it when she’s ready but there’s no breaking down those walls of hers, not even you, Mr. Charming and Adorable.

 

I shake my head in confusion. “So she just doesn’t want to date anyone, period?”

 

“Yeah, so before you try to woo her or whatever it is you do to women that make them want to go try on wedding dresses, you have to realize that she’s a tough egg to crack.”

 

“Oh,” I breathe and think for a minute about what I want to do now. I did tell myself that I’m up for a challenge. She can’t be that uncrackable; she practically melted in my arms in the shoot earlier. Ashley doesn’t know what she’s saying. “Well, I still want to hang out with her, she’s really cool. And that reminds me, that new club is opening in a couple weeks and Adam can get a group of us a spot in the VIP section. You guys should come.”

 

“Yeah, alright, I’ll see if she and a couple other people want to go.” I hear a loud crash followed by a kid’s scream in the background on her end. “Shit, I gotta go. My niece just dropped this whole thing of marbles and she’s having a fit. I’ll call you.”

 

\--TWO WEEKS LATER--

 

The car stops just outside the back door to Twisted and I sigh as I pull my fedora over my head and adjust the collar of my leather jacket and follow Andre and Jarod outside. There are a few other celebrities here tonight so the paparazzi is on standby and I really don’t want to deal with them. 

 

I'm honestly not even in the mood to be out anywhere tonight. I found out earlier today that the movie I was sure I had a part in got scrapped by the studio, and all I really feel like doing right now is giving in to my guilty pleasure and watch that marathon of Long Island Medium I saw commercials for earlier. But I made several promises to people who wanted to come to this shindig so I feel kind of obligated to be here. Plus, I’m hoping that Alexis shows up and makes me forget about everything else.

 

I send Ashley a text as I’m following the guys to the back door to meet my friend Adam who is a bouncer here. I let her know that I’ve arrived and that she and her friends will be able to get in easily if she gives her name at the door. Adam meets us just inside and after greeting each other, we follow him down a corridor for employees and into the packed club to the roped off VIP section where a "RESERVED" sign is on display at a few of the tables.

 

A cocktail waitress takes our drink orders as we sit down on the plush velvety couches. I spot Avan and his girlfriend Zooey and her sister weaving their way through the crowd of party goers and wave him down. He slaps my back when they reach the table and Zooey sweetly offers up a smile and a wave. It’s good to see them both, it’s been a while since we’ve done anything together because we’ve both been so busy.

 

"Hey man, long time no see. This place is pretty sweet," Avan says as he glances around the place. 

 

"Yeah, not bad. Packed though. I was just thinking....woah...” As I’m looking around the room at the many faces I don’t recognize, a piercing set of blue eyes captures my attention, catching me off guard and making me forget what I was saying to Avan. I’d never forget those eyes in a million years. They might as well be tattooed into my brain. 

 

Her back is facing me as she turns around to say something to Ashley and the black beading that lines the upper back of her dress shimmers under the dim lighting. She nervously fumbles with one of the earrings in her ear as she turns back around and pushes her way past the crowd of people who surround her.

 

Her wavy long hair is pulled loosely to one side and I can tell just from where I'm sitting that the simple black dress she has on hugs her in all the right places. 

 

"Who's that?" Avan asks, noting that I must look like a dog with my eyes on a nice juicy steak.

 

"That would be Alexis." My throat feels like it's going to close up when I say her name. “She’s good friends with Ash, but we did this sort of risque shoot together a couple weeks ago and shes….amazing.”

 

She walks up the few steps to the roped off section behind Ashley and her eyes scan the area when she reaches the top. There’s a lump in my throat when she waves at me and says something to Ashley. My heart starts to race as both girls make their way over to where I’m sitting; god she’s beautiful. She nervously smoothes out her simple black dress that falls just above her knees. It shows off her long legs, supple chest and backside like a piece of artwork. I can’t stop myself from looking at her but I don’t want to gawk at her like a creep, so I look away while taking a sip of my beer. 

 

“Josh! This place is amazing, I love it already!” Ashley hollers over the music as she darts towards me. I stand up to greet her with a hug and see Lexi over her shoulder, waiting to say hi to me as well. 

 

"Alexis,” I shuffle past Ashley and put my arms around her.  Fuck me, she smells so good. "I’m glad you came. You both look gorgeous tonight. Do you want a drink?"

 

"Thank you!” She sits down next to Ashley on the couch that I had been sitting on. “I’d love a drink, good call, where’s the waitress?” She reaches for her credit card in her small purse but I put my hand over hers to stop her.

 

"No, I got it. I have a tab running. Whatever you want is on me,” I offer, casually running my hand over her bare back.

 

“Seriously?” She’s taken aback, like no one has ever bought her a drink before.

 

“Yeah, seriously.” I wave the waitress over and point to both Ashley and Alexis. “Put whatever these two want on the group tab, please.” 

 

After the girls order, Avan and Zooey join us at the table and introduce themselves to Alexis since she hasn’t met them before. Avan has been one of my best friends for the longest time and he knows when I have my eye on someone. As Alexis talks about herself - where she’s from, what she’s doing in LA, where she lives and so on, I can tell that both Avan and Zooey approve of her by the way they both look at me and smile.

 

“How did you meet Josh? Through Ash?” Zooey asks out of curiosity. 

 

“Yeah! She and I were at someone’s house for a party, I dont even remember where or whose house it was, it was like right after I met Ashley so I didn’t know anyone out here besides my roommate, of course. Anyways, Josh was there that night and we ended up playing Mario Kart against each other and I remember,” she pats my shoulder as all this comes back to her, “we got into this huge fight because you kept knocking me off Rainbow Road.”

 

“Really? Wow! I don’t remember doing that at all, I’m sorry. You have an exceptional memory.”

 

“Well, I do remember specifically that you were Luigi and I was Toad and I was beating you almost the whole game. Then we got to the Rainbow Road and you didn’t even use any of those turtle shells or lightning bolts to try to stop me, you just stayed next to me and kept pushing me off. I almost threw my controller at you and you kept laughing at me.”

 

I start to chuckle and am amazed that she remembers such detail about a little game. “Alright, I tend to be a sore loser, what can I say? We’ll have to have a rematch one of these days.” As I look at her I see that her eyes light up with excitement.

 

“Okay, just name the time and the place, I’ll take you. I’ve always been very competitive.” She looks at Zooey next to her and goes into a story about how when she was playing soccer in high school, she almost got thrown out of the game because she started to argue with the referee over something minor that the other team did.

 

“If you like soccer, you should check out the Galaxy sometime, I can get tickets if you ever want to go,” I suggest, hoping it will give me another excuse to see her again without scaring her off. 

 

“Yeah, that would be a blast, I’d love to go! We could get a whole group together, oh my god! Yes! I’m so excited now!” She claps her hands together.

 

“Well, yeah, I might be able to only get a couple, but I mean you and I could go together,” I lie. I don’t want to hang out with her in a group, that’s not how you get close to someone. And a game isn’t technically a date.

 

“Yeah, we’ll see,” she answers with a polite smile before taking a sip of her drink.

 

As the night continues and as the alcohol keeps flowing, Lexi and I frequently make eye contact that only we seem to understand. Perhaps it’s because of how close we were at the photoshoot, but it's like we have some kind of secret language between us that no one else will ever figure out.

 

I've learned that she becomes very touchy feely when she drinks. Whenever she laughs, she's sure to touch my arm or knee in some way. This is a good sign in my eyes and the odds seem to be in my favor. She’s been asked to dance by a few different guys, but each time, she’s politely turned them down because she and I were in the middle of a conversation. 

 

“You know, Josh has some pretty sick moves on the dance floor, he could probably school you out there,” Ashley tells her after she turns down some random guy. Ashley gives me a reassuring nod, realizing that Lexi is drunk enough to let herself share some alone time with me on the dance floor.

 

“Oh really? I’d like to see that,” she laughs with excitement and pushes up from the railing she has been leaning on.

 

"Oh, I don’t think you’re ready for that, not yet," I protest.

 

“Come on, try me,” she begs, tugging on the collar of my leather jacket towards the dance floor.

 

As we descend down the couple of steps onto the floor, I place my hand on the small of her back to guide her to a spot where she and I can be alone. Finally. I hope everyone in the room can see that I’m the lucky son of a bitch that gets to dance with this girl. And no one else. 

 

Hey girl, I'm debating

If I should take you home

Should I take you home?

 

"Good song, I love Usher!" she hollers over the sound of the music and inches her body close to mine, wrapping her arms around my neck. 

 

I don't mean to keep you waiting

But I just gotta know

If you're ready

 

Her eyes pierce right through me like laser beams as her hips move in slow circles in my hands. I hear my name being called but I don't look away to see who is shouting for me. It’s just her and I at this point.

 

She says she wanna take her skirt off

Be my guest

I decided to take my shirt off

And show my chest

And we been sipping on that Merlot

So you know what's next

Working intermissions, switching positions

We so explicit oh

 

I pull her even closer to me, rolling my hips to match the rhythm of hers, letting the beat of the music take us away. I inhale her perfume as I rest my head on her bare shoulder. It's sweet and intoxicating, like a strong fruity drink. A strawberry daiquiri or piña colada. 

 

You've been saying all night long

That you couldn't wait to get me all alone

What you gon' do to me

 

For the next 3 minutes and 20 seconds, the dance floor belongs to us and only us and things heat up quickly. Our hands get reacquainted with each other's bodies. I touch her in the places on her body that give her goosebumps and does the same to me. 

 

My fingers tease her as they play with the hair on the back of her neck before falling to her back, where they graze over the soft, delicate skin there. Even above the loud music, I can hear a soft moan escape her lips and it makes the crotch of my jeans start to tighten. 

 

Before I know it, her fingers are tangled in my hair, roughly tugging on it as I push her body even further up against a wall near the back entrance where we can’t be seen by many. We kiss like we’ve been starved for the last couple weeks. It’s like since that photoshoot, all this tension has been building up, slowly at first, then as each day has passed, it’s gotten stronger and stronger and tonight is the night that bubble will finally burst because it can’t take any more pressure. 

 

Lexi’s lips are swollen by the time the booming bass from the next song ends. Her cheeks are flushed and her hair is all over the place due to my overly eager hands wanting to touch every part of her. 

 

“Listen, need to be perfectly honest with you, Alexis,” I say in between kisses, the alcohol completely taking over my words as the only thing I can comprehend is how her lips taste. She rocks her hip up against mine so she can feel the friction of my erection rubbing against her. This feels so fucking good I can’t stand it. Her mouth hangs wide in anticipation and I can feel her body shaking. 

 

“Fuck...what…is it...” she breathes before taking my face in her hands and attacking my mouth again.

 

I pull away from her mouth and my lips graze just below her ear. "I’m a guy who goes for what he wants.” I move to the other side of her neck and kiss her collarbone and feel her grip on my waist tighten. “And I want you, so fucking bad.” 

 

“Oh god Josh….” She hooks her fingers into the belt loops on my jeans and pulls me even closer to her. Any closer and I’ll explode. “Take me to my place. Now,” she demands, grasping the collar on my shirt.

 

I quickly think up an excuse as to why I’m leaving so suddenly so I don’t look like an asshole to my friends. “Wait here,” I say before I kiss her again and lift myself off the wall. I make the necessary adjustments to my pants to hide the fact that I’m hard and hastily make my way back to the VIP section.

  
  



	4. Chapter 4

“Wait here,” he says to me before his lips descend onto mine again. As he walks away, I take this time to get myself together. The last ten minutes or so have been filled with Josh and I practically attacking each other until we could no longer stand up straight. I tuck the hair on my head that has been strewn all over behind my ear and wipe the lipstick that I can feel has been smudged on my face. 

 

Panic sets over me when I realize I left my purse at the table and I have no way of getting into my house because my roommate, Jackie, is away with her friends for the weekend. I take a deep breath and start towards the VIP section, only to see Josh walking quickly in my direction with my purse in his hand. 

 

"Let's get out of here," he says as he takes my hand. 

 

He leads us down a hallway towards the back door like a man on a mission and I’m his final destination. I don’t remember the last time I was this hot for a guy. I don’t think I’ve ever been so attracted to someone. I knew this was going to happen the second I saw the way Josh looked at me tonight, it was only a matter of time before one of us acted on our desires. 

 

We rush out the back door and the second the door closes, he slowly backs me up against it and pins my arms over my head and seals his lips over mine again. I moan at his taste, telling him I’m ready for whatever he wants to do to me tonight. Nothing is off limits. A black SUV pulls up minutes later and once we’re inside and I tell the driver my address, we go back at it again. I can’t get enough of his touch, his tongue, his lips, his hot breath on my neck.

 

"I can’t believe you said you’re not sexy,” he whispers at the base of my ear. I swallow hard when he inhales through his nose and puts his hand on my thigh. "You’re crazy, you know that?" 

 

His fingers dance on the skin and my breath is ragged. I’m so wet. If he could only feel what he’s doing with just a simple touch he’d be floored. I’m trembling, I want him so bad. He could get me off right here. I didn’t doubt it that he knows his way around a woman’s body but he’s blowing me away right now with his expertise.

 

The fire between us is like an inferno that could melt the north pole into a puddle. And we haven’t even gotten to my house yet. I imagine that if we were to move any further in this car, it would burst into flames and reduce the 405 to a pile of ashes.

 

By the time we reach my house, we’re both about ready to burst. “Your roommate isn’t here, right?” he asks as I fumble with my keys to get the door unlocked.

 

I shake my head. “She’s in San Diego this weekend.” Once I get the door open, I pull him by the jacket and after he closes the door with his foot, all bets are off. Our mouths meet again and once again, we’re clawing at each other. His jacket drops to the floor, leaving him in a white v-neck that clings to his body so perfectly that I can see his nipples harden through the fabric.

 

“Oh fuck,” I cry into his mouth and he releases a groan into mine before lifting me up into his arms. “Take me to my bedroom. Now,” I beg, my voice a subtle whimper against his lingering lips.

 

“Where is it?” he breathes.

 

“Up. Stairs,” I reply before sealing my mouth on his again. Every time one of us pulls away, it’s just for a second to take a breath then we’re back at it. It’s a struggle for Josh to navigate his way to the stairs that lead up to where my room is while my body is obstructing his view. Instantly, my back hits the wall next to where the stairs begin with a hard smack.

 

“Mmm, sorry, my bad,” he says and rubs the part of me that slammed into the wall.

 

“It’s ok. Come on.” I lower myself from his grip and take him by the hand and lead him up the stairs. I don’t have a conscious thought in my head. I don’t even know which way is up. I’m simply letting my feet take me where they need to go. When I reach the top of the stairs, I turn around and keep kissing him as I walk us backward down the hall and into my bedroom. 

 

Once we’re inside, he closes the door behind him with his hip and takes my face in his hands and walks me toward where the bed is. My heart is racing so hard and I’m not even sure how I’m able to stand.

 

“Turn around,” he murmurs and I spin so that my back is facing him and watch over my shoulder as he lowers the zipper holding my dress together in the back. With a gentle tug, he pushes it down to the floor, leaving me in just my strapless bra and underwear. His eyes fall to my chest as I turn back around to face him and lift his shirt over his head. When I get it off, my fingers trace the anchor tattoo on his side before landing on the waistband of his jeans. He releases a deep groan before pulling me up against him and claiming my mouth as his own. 

 

He rids me of my bra and takes his time massaging my breasts between his fingers. His touch is so tender and soft, he takes his time to make sure I'm feeling pleasure from this. And I am. I’m like putty in his hands, and before I know it, we somehow make it onto the bed, on our knees, with our hands all over each other. His body is rigid and his nipples are hard under my fingertips. I run my hand down his chest, over his stomach and stop when I get to the top of his jeans. I begin with his belt, undoing the buckle and pull it out of the belt loops. I then tease him a little, undoing the button and zipper on his jeans and rubbing his hardened length through the fabric of his underwear.

 

Next I push him so that he’s laying on his back and straddle him. His mouth gapes open and he grips on my waist when I start to grind on his lap and we both moan at the feeling of the friction between us. This doesn’t last long before Josh rolls me over and climbs on top of me and envelops one of my breasts in his mouth. He takes his time swirling his tongue around my hardened peak, and using his lips to create the perfect amount of suction on it.

 

There’s nothing I can do to describe the way his face looks when he glances up at me for a moment. The need in his eyes to be inside of me is apparent and I know I, myself can’t last much longer if we keep this teasing up. 

 

“Josh…...I need….you….fuck….." I cry out in between kisses.

 

"Do you have any condoms?" he breathes.

 

"Night stand."

 

He kisses me softly and lifts himself off and I watch him open my drawer and pull out the box of condoms as I try to catch my breath. "Oh,  sorry I keep my vibrator in there," I confess as he's opening the box of condoms. There’s only one missing from it. I don’t even know why I bought them anyway, it’s not like this happens that frequently. 

 

"It's ok, a girl has to get off somehow." He puts the wrapped condom in his teeth and finishes the work I started on his jeans, putting on a brief show for me as he pushes them along with his underwear to the floor. "But you won't need that tonight." His cock stands at attention and I bite my bottom lip as I sit up and move to the edge of the bed. 

 

He tears the foil wrapper open and takes his length in his hand, giving it a few strokes. As I watch the pulsing rhythm of Josh’s hand slowly rubbing it back and forth, I reach for him, my fingers grazing his hip. "Wait, come here." 

 

He shuffles his feet to stand in front of me and I grab a hold of his shaft before easing it past my lips. He releases a long groan when my tongue flicks over the head where the evidence of his excitement has already started to seep out. He places his free hand on my head, guiding my mouth back and forth along his length. I wrap one hand around him and squeeze his left cheek while my other hand secures a firm grasp at the base of his cock where I twist and turn to create more stimulation. He whimpers in agony as both of my hands, lips and tongue work their magic on him. 

 

"Stop..wait...wait...I'm gonna come if you keep doing that." I release him from my mouth with a pop and watch as he takes a few deep breaths, trying to keep it together. I wipe the saliva off my lips and chuckle as I see him standing in front of me with his hands on his hips like he just ran a marathon. 

 

"Sorry," I tell him.

 

"It's okay. Your tongue has a mind of its own." 

 

Once he's gotten his composure back, he tells me to take off my panties and takes his dick in his hand once again and rolls the condom onto it. Before I can remove my underwear, he's picking my chin up so he can kiss me again. He leans forward and pushes me onto my back until my head hits the mattress. He nudges my panties aside and rubs his index finger along my slit, getting satisfaction from discovering how wet he's made me; I can tell by the stupid grin on his face. Next he tugs at the waistband of my underwear and pushes them down to join the rest of our clothes. 

 

"Ready?" he asks so gently, making sure I really want to do this.

 

"Yes, God, yes, please," I beg, so desperate to feel him inside me.

 

He chuckles and takes his cock in his hand and guides it in through my entrance, watching my facial expression the whole time. My walls immediately clench around him as he slips in deep and a guttural sound escapes from my mouth and fills the room. My eyes roll into the back of my head as I feel him slide out then go back in again to fill me up.

 

His hips quickly pick up the pace and before long, our bodies are moving rhythmically together, our skin slapping against one another as sweat pours from us, our Iungs strain to fill with oxygen, hair is pulled, ass cheeks are squeezed, blankets, sheets and pillows somehow get tossed to the floor.

 

"Yeah...oh fuck...yeah Josh.....yeah...oh...," I cry when I'm close, pushing him to go faster. He releases a loud groan and slows down his speed. "Don't stop, I'm almost there, oh fuck."

 

My legs are on his shoulders and he pushes into me once, twice and on the third...KABOOM. The a-bomb goes off and all I see is blackness as my eyes shut tight. My body shudders and we’re both wailing in ecstasy as his dick pulses inside of me while he finishes his own release.

 

"Fuck...fuck....fuckkkk," he pants while slowly and carefully pulling out of me. He stands up from the bed and takes a deep breath before kissing me softly on the cheek. "Where's your bathroom?"

 

"Across the hall," I tell him as I sit up on my elbows.

 

"Alright, I’ll be right back.” 

 

He exits the bedroom and I stretch my arms over my head, satisfied from probably the best sex of my life, but now comes the part I hate. Afterwards. What do we do now? Do I say "Ok that was great, thanks, see you when I see you?"

 

My bedroom smells like sex, nothing but sweat and saliva and just raw passion. It’s an unfamiliar scent. I’ve been in this very situation before, but only a few other times. I’d sleep with a guy, he’d clean himself up and after a few minutes, he’d leave. But something tells me that it’s different this time.

 

“Where are your glasses? Can I get some water?” he asks, sticking his head in the doorway. He’s still completely naked and the thought of him walking around my house in the nude excites me all over again. 

 

“Oh, no, I’ll get you some,” I start as I sit up, covering myself with the sheet.

 

“No, you’re comfortable, I’ll get it. You want one?”

 

“Yeah, thanks,” I smile and look at my reflection in the mirror on my dresser and my cheeks are still flushed and burning. As I put my hand up to cool my face, I remember about the ice machine on the refrigerator. “Josh, the ice machine doesn’t work, you have to get the ice inside the door!” I holler to him and hear him yell back, “Okay.”

 

I’ve never wanted to hang out with those few guys I’ve been with before, mostly because they reminded me so much of my ex and they were complete douchebags and it was just sex to me, but Josh is kind and understanding. He reads my expressions and knows the right way to react to them to leave me wanting more, unlike Brendan who did everything only to please himself. 

 

There’s no doubt that I like Josh, he’s fun and charming and makes me laugh like no one else, not to mention he’s outstanding in bed, but this fear inside of me that he’ll be another Brendan won’t go away. It’s like that with everyone I’ve tried to get close to since I walked out on him. 

 

“Hey,” I hear Josh’s voice holler from the bottom of the stairs. “Where do you keep the tin foil?”

 

“What?” Immediately I get up from bed and throw on a pair of shorts and a tank top and pick up Josh’s underwear from the floor. 

 

“You have pizza in your fridge, I’m hungry. I wanted to heat it up.”

 

I start laughing when I see Josh leaning on the banister of the stairs waiting for my reaction, butt naked. “That’s Jackie’s, it has goat cheese on it.”

 

“Oh.” He looks so disappointed. I meet him at the bottom of the stairs and toss him his boxers to put back on. 

 

“I’ll order something if you’re hungry.” 

 

“Yeah, you took a lot out of me up there. My wallet’s upstairs, I can get some cash,” he starts for the stairs, but I grab his arm to stop him.

 

“Don’t, I got it,” I tell him.

 

“But I’m the guy, I should pay for it,” he retorts.

 

“But this isn’t a date. And it’s my house and I want pizza too, so let me pay for it.” I give him a steely look and he rolls his eyes.

 

“Okay.” He’s silent as I go into the kitchen and pull out a stack of menus from local restaurants near the house. I order us a large pepperoni and mushroom with extra cheese. “They said thirty minutes," I tell him.

 

Josh is fumbling with his thumbs and leaning on the kitchen counter. “If it’s not a date which obviously I know it’s not, then what is this?”

 

“You want to put a label on sex and pizza?” 

 

“Not exactly, but I know and you know that there’s something here between us. And I’d like to know where we stand. I like you Alexis.”

 

“You’re worse than a girl. I like you too Josh, but I don’t want to put a label on this, whatever it is. I just want to be friends and hang out and maybe sleep together occasionally. No complications. It’s messy when feelings are involved.”

 

“Why are you so turned off by the idea of a relationship?” 

 

I bite the inside of my cheek to stop the tears from seeping into my tear ducts. “It’s a long story.”


	5. Chapter 5

-JOSH-

 

“I just want to be friends and hang out and maybe sleep together occasionally. No complications. It’s messy when feelings are involved.”

 

My initial thought is a ‘friends with benefits’ situation. I’ve had my fair share of occasional hookups but never anything steady like that. It does make sense I suppose. There’s no denying the fact that we’re hot for each other and what guy wouldn’t want hot sex whenever he could get it without the emotional commitment? But I’m still curious to see if this could possibly go anywhere beyond that. And I really want to know why she feels so negatively about the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing. “Why are you so turned off by the idea of a relationship?” I ask. 

 

She sighs and I see that she’s trying to hold something back. There’s pain in her eyes as she recalls something from her memory. I can see it and I want to pry to find out what it is but I don’t want to push her away. “It’s a long story,” she replies, passing me to go to a cabinet to take out a cup for herself.

 

“Well, I have time.” I glance at the clock on the microwave and cross my arms over my chest. “30 minutes to be exact.” 

 

She smiles politely and looks down at her feet as her fingers swirl around the top of her glass and chokes out a reply. “They just….don’t always work out the way you expect them to. People change after time and...it just….sucks.” She shrugs and for a brief moment I see her hard wall go down almost like she wants to let me in and tell me everything, but she puts it back up and turns her attention towards her living room. “Can we maybe not talk about all this right now? I’m sure there’s some good late night TV on that we can watch while we wait for the food to get here.”

 

“Sure,” I calmly agree. I’ll play along by her rules for now and make her see that I have good intentions. I’m not one to push girls into anything, I’ll wait for her, however long that takes. I think she’s worth it. “There was a marathon of Long Island Medium on earlier today, it might still be on.”

 

Her eyes light up and I can see that she’s no longer haunted by any memories taking over her brain. “Oh my god I love her! My mom went to see her when she came to Knoxville once, she was gonna ask about my grandpa but never got the chance cause the line was so long and she ran out of time.”

 

Another tidbit I didn’t know about her. She’s close to her family, it seems. I follow her into the living room and she sits cross legged on one of the couches and reaches for the TV remote. “That’s cool, were you close to your grandpa?” I ask as I sit down beside her.

 

She puts the remote down in her lap and faces me, leaning her arm on the back of the couch. “Yeah. We all were. He was special. He had a good outlook on life. Someone you really wanted to be around. He had a smile that made it hard for other people in the room not to smile back, you know?” She smiles as she fondly remembers him. I can tell that she loved him a lot.

 

She sighs contently and starts tracing the part of my back tattoo that is in her view with her fingers. “Yeah, if it wasn’t for him I’d probably be barefoot and pregnant, waiting hand and foot on some deadbeat husband.” She laughs but I can tell she’s contemplated that thought several times, like the thought of it scares the shit out of her. 

 

“Why do you say that?”

 

“He inspired me to go for what I wanted. And I’ve always had this dream ever since I was like 10 of coming out here and getting to work on movie sets doing makeup and becoming best friends with all the famous actresses.”

 

I just watch her and I’m mesmerized by how beautiful she is right now. She’s peeled back some layers of herself and is letting me see this incredible person that she is. “And look at you, you’re getting there! I’m sure he’d be proud that he had such an influence on you.”

 

“Well, I’m trying, I’m no Charlie Green or any of those famous artists but maybe someday. It’s kind of a hobby for now.”

 

“You’re good, from what I’ve seen anyway.”

 

She removes her arm from the back of the couch and starts fiddling with her nails. “Thanks. What about you?” She nudges me with her elbow.

 

“What about me?”

 

“Did you always want to be an actor?”

 

I nod, I’ve answered this question millions of times over the last decade but the people who asked it were only asking because it was written on a card. She’s genuinely interested. “Yeah, even when I was like 4, if we had people over to the house, my mom said I’d always want to perform something in front of them. I pretended to be super heroes a lot. I had this little red blanket that I wrapped around my neck and this pair of cowboy boots and I ran around the house pretending to fight off bad guys.”

 

She stifles out a cute chuckle as she imagines a miniature version of myself running around, yelling at imaginary villains. “That’s so cute.” 

 

In the next few minutes, we swap stories back and forth about our childhoods and I learn that she spent a lot of time on her grandpa’s farm. That’s another reason why she was so close to him. I love hearing her talk about her family and telling me about all the stupid things she and her younger sister used to do as kids. It reminds me a lot of myself and Connor. We don’t pay much attention to the episode of Long Island Medium that’s on, honestly I’ve seen it before. Theresa helps a family get in touch with their son who was lost in Iraq. Touching stuff, but I’m more interested in what Alexis is telling me about her home in Tennessee. 

 

Before I know it, the pizza is delivered and I don’t realize until I smell it how hungry I actually was. We get ourselves settled in the living room with paper plates and sodas to drink and Lexi continues her story about when she almost fell off a horse when she was 9. It’s nice to see this side of her and hearing about her home actually makes me miss Kentucky a lot.

 

After we’re done eating and clean up after ourselves, we decide to finish the episode then I’ll take a cab home so I don’t feel like I’m clinging onto her like a leech. Lexi and I sit comfortably next to each other while watching the episode and when a commercial break comes on, she turns her attention towards me.

 

“So, are you okay with what I said earlier? About just keeping this casual? I didn’t hurt your feelings did I?” She leisurely puts her hand on my shoulder and keeps it there.

 

I shake my head. After giving it a little time to digest, the idea doesn’t seem half bad. “No, you didn’t. I understand, you’re in a new place and getting your feet wet still and I have to go film in Atlanta actually in a few weeks so it works out better this way. You know, we’ll get to hang out and hook up whenever we’re in the mood and it can be like the best of both worlds.”

 

“Exactly.” She seems pleased with this arrangement and smiles wide. “You can call me whenever you want to mess around and I’ll do the same with you and we’ll do other stuff too, just no commitment.”

 

“So if we’re going to be doing this, we should probably get to know more about each other as far as sex goes, right?”

 

“Yeah, that would be helpful, to know what each other likes and doesn’t like. How about we play 20 questions,” she suggests. “You go first.”

 

I rub my hands together to think of a question to get started and blurt out the first one to come to me. “Favorite position?”

 

“I’m down to try anything, but I won’t do anal, that’s out of the question. What’s yours?”  


“Doggy style. Really, I like any of the ones where I can reach around and grab a girl’s boobs.”

 

She chuckles a little at my honest answer. “Nice, very nice. Ok since we have to get it out of the way, how many people have you slept with?”

 

“Nine. You?”

 

“Four.” She has a disgusted look on her face, maybe she’s ashamed at the low number, but she shouldn’t be. She’s definitely not a slut, which is good.

 

“Don’t be ashamed of that number,” I tell her.

 

“I’m not. I’m ashamed it was with the four people it was with, that’s all.” 

 

I nod in understanding, I wish I thought twice before jumping into bed with some of the partners I’ve been with. “Oh. Ok, moving on, um...What’s the name of that battery-operated-buddy you have upstairs?”

 

She laughs and her cheeks get a little flushed. “Oh god, you’re gonna tease me for this, Prince William.”

 

“Ugh, no. No that’s terrible! Really?” 

 

“Yes! Really! I had a thing for him when I was younger, don’t ask questions. Do you have a name for your not so little friend down below?”

 

“I might.”

 

“You have to tell me what it is," she pries.

 

I shake my head no. There's no way I'm telling her that. She won't even get the reference. 

 

"Josh, if you don’t, I’ll name it myself like in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. You don’t want to end up calling it Princess Sophia or Crawl the Warrior King.” 

 

I chuckle and press my thumb and forefinger between my eyes. “Ok, ok. It's Martin Riggs.”

 

“Like Lethal Weapon Martin Riggs?” She bursts out laughing uncontrollably, clapping her hands together as I tend to do when I’m laughing too hard. I'm pleasantly surprised she got what it means. I just nod and let her lose it, wishing I had told her some made up name. “Oh my god, that’s hilarious.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“Well it’s definitely lethal, I’ll give you that much,” she says, eyeing my crotch.

 

“Thank you again, I’m flattered.” I tilt my head up to the ceiling to think of another question to ask her. “Ever been with a girl?” I raise my eyebrows at her and she rolls her eyes at me. "What? Picturing two girls together turns me on."

 

“No, I haven’t. Have you ever been with a guy?” she asks.

 

“No.” I’m still curious about the last question I asked so I push for more. “Would you ever, like....try stuff with a girl?”

 

She shrugs. “I’m a pretty open person when it comes to sex.”

 

My dick twitches in my boxers and I sit up straight and face her. “What, so you would?”

 

“If the mood struck me, maybe.”

 

My dick twitches again at the images I see in my head or her and another girl. “God that’s hot. Ok, um, do you watch porn?”

 

“Sometimes. I’ll get my headphones late at night when I’m in bed and watch it on my phone, do you?”

 

“Yeah, I’m a guy. And you get off to it, yes?” I can tell she’s also getting hot and bothered at where this conversation has turned to.

 

“Obviously, Josh. It’s hot. Especially when it’s set somewhere out of the ordinary, like a kitchen counter or in the shower or outside by a pool. Next question, for you.” She shifts her weight to sit closer to me and leans in close to my ear, making my heart start to race and my dick twitch once more.

 

“If there’s one place someone should touch you that would instantly turn you on, that wasn’t your..” she looks down at my semi hard bulge. “...Martin Riggs, where would it be?” 

 

"Oh the back of my head, for sure."

 

"The back of your head?"

 

"Uh-huh, like when someone scratches it back there with their nails, ugh, it gets me going.”

 

She reaches behind me and runs her fingers through the hair on the back of my neck, sending shivers down my spine. "So right here?"

 

"Yeah, that's it." I feel like a dog who is having his favorite spot scratched and soon my leg will start kicking. 

 

"Like this? This turns you on, Josh?" Her nails scratch the scalp so delicately that goosebumps pop up on my arms and legs.

 

"Ohhhh yeah." I close my eyes and relish in the tingling sensation she's giving me.

 

"What else turns you on?"

 

"You," I blurt before opening my eyes and catch her biting on her lower lip with a slight smile spread across her face. “What turns you on, Alexis?”

 

“I like when a guy goes down on me. It feels good.”

 

There goes my dick again. “Really…anything else?”

 

“Kissing my neck.” 

 

“Like, sucking on it and stuff?”

 

“Mmhmm.”

 

“So if I were to...” I lean in and push her head to the side with my mouth and gently suck on the crevice at the base of her neck and she whimpers and puts her hand on my arm where she grips the muscle there. “...do that, that would turn you on?”

 

She giggles and says, “You can keep going.” She tilts her head further to the side and closes her eyes. I smile as I lean in again, this time slowly taking my time to draw my tongue over the skin on her neck before puckering my lips to create suction on it,  just enough to not leave any traces of redness.

 

“Yeah, that feels good,” she whispers and I keep going, dragging my teeth slightly across the area, making her jump at the sensation. 

 

“Want me to go lower?” I murmur in her ear before nibbling on her earlobe and I feel her nod against my cheek. “All the way down?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

I stare deeply into her eyes and lean into her so that she falls backwards onto the seat of the couch. I crawl over her and continue the work I was doing on her neck but on the other side. My dick is solid as a rock at this point and I need some stimulation from her, so bad. It’s only been an hour or so since we were upstairs but she has me so hypnotized that I can’t control myself. But first I want to give her what she likes and I want to hear her scream my name with my face between her legs.

 

When I reach her hot center, she’s panting in anticipation for what I’m about to do to her. She smells sweet like candy and when I pull her underwear past her thighs, I see that she’s already glistening from my brief teasing. After adjusting my position, I put one of her legs over my shoulder and the other on the floor and begin to tease her just a little more by kissing my way up her thighs. I watch from where I’m situated, the way her mouth parts open when she whimpers at the way the little bit of stubble on my chin feels on her. 

 

Without any warning, I dive in and plunge my tongue into her folds. She tastes just as I imagined and I hum at the sweet sensation hitting my tongue. She groans the instant I start swirling my tongue in circular motions inside of her and when she starts rocking her hips against me, I tighten my grip on her legs. I want her to be still so I can prolong the satisfaction. My tongue sweeps up and down her wet little slit several times and she’s going crazy, shaking her head from side to side because I won’t let her move her legs at all. 

 

I circle her swollen nub and she produces a low moan deep within her chest. “Oh god, yes. Suck my clit,” she breathes and grabs a tuft of hair on the top of my head and gives it a gentle tug. I release one of her legs and dip one finger into her center while my mouth works feverishly on her clit. As I pump in and out of her, I can feel her body tense more and more. She keeps chanting my name and gripping the armrest of the couch for dear life. Her reactions only make me want to go faster and give her one of the best orgasms of her life. I slip in another digit and keep finger fucking her. 

 

“Josh, I’m so close, fuck me now,” she demands, releasing her grip from my hair. The need in her voice is so apparent that I can’t help but stop what I’m doing and fulfill her request. I slide up and meet her lips with mine.

 

“I’ll go get a condom,” I tell her after pulling away.

 

“No, please, I can’t hang on, just do it, I trust you, you can pull out.” She looks at me with desperation in her eyes.

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“Yes! Please, oh my god.” She reaches for me and pushes my boxers down, springing my cock free from its confinement. I feel like I’m about to explode so I know that judging by the way she’s feeling, neither of us will last long. I slip inside of her once we get into the right position it feels twice as amazing feeling the slickness of her arousal cover my shaft as I push deep inside of her. Her warm wet heat envelops me from the top of my dick all the way to the base and it feels like Heaven.

 

She wraps her legs around my waist and lifts her butt into the air a little so I can really hit the back of her. As my thrusts pick up speed and intensity, and as we come closer and closer to reaching a state of total euphoria, I watch her facial expressions. She’s so fucking beautiful, I can’t get over it. I could stare into her piercing blue eyes all day. She looks up at me with so much desperation on her face, like she needs me more than anything. Suddenly this doesn’t feel like just sex anymore, it’s something else, something deeper than that. I can feel it in the pit of my stomach. I only hope she can feel it too. 


	6. Chapter 6

-LEXI- 

 

The sound of the front door to the house opening wakes me up out of a deep sleep. “Ouch!” I mutter to myself as I turn my head to see what time it is. I’m in my bed and have the biggest crick in my neck ever. I fell asleep with wet hair after I showered last night - well, very early this morning -  and it made my muscles sore. Sitting up, I move my head from shoulder to shoulder, trying to stretch it out a little and it helps alleviate the pain a little bit, but it still hurts. 

 

I hear Jackie drop her bag in the front hallway and tip toe into the bathroom downstairs. The clock on my nightstand says 8:14am. Too early to be awake for my standards, especially since Josh didn’t leave until 4am. Since I have a photoshoot to work on in the afternoon, there’s no way I’m getting out of bed just yet. I pull the sheet up to my shoulders and turn to my side to try to get some more sleep, but I start to laugh a little when I think of how weird and random last night was.

 

It started with Ashley begging me to go out to a new club with her, which I was apprehensive about at first, but the more I drank, the more I loosened up. Then Josh and I left the club after things heated up between us and had sex. Amazing, mind-blowing, sweaty sex. Then there was pizza, Long Island Medium, swapping childhood stories, playing twenty questions about sex, having sex again, then we somehow ended the night watching a horrible zombie movie and coming up with a plan on how we’d save the world if there was a zombie attack. 

 

When I suggested to Josh that I wanted to keep this thing between us casual, I honestly didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I only told him that I didn’t want anything serious with him so that he wouldn’t get in too deep at the beginning of all of this. He seems to be a long-term relationship kind of person, which I, thanks to Brendan, am not anymore. But somehow, and thankfully, Josh agreed that keeping this a casual, no-strings kind of thing would work out for the best.

 

Josh is such an easy going person that he really makes this all so simple. It’s nice to have a good friend that I can talk to about zombies or sports or deep stuff like my hopes for the future who will actually listen to me; and at the same time, have someone I can be physical with who actually knows how to handle a woman’s body. And knowing that after we’re both satisfied physically, we’ll be able to easily walk away without the fear of commitment nipping at us makes it a win-win situation. 

 

As I drift off to sleep, I stumble into a dream. One I’ve been having all too often lately and one that isn’t far from reality. 

 

Brendan stumbles into my bedroom, reeking of beer and cheap women’s perfume. Nothing new for a Saturday night. He usually lets himself into my parents house late at night and tries to be as quiet as he can but he usually ends up waking up my sister or my mom. My dad is a heavy sleeper and wouldn’t wake up if a parade was going past his bed. 

 

Whenever I ask him where he’s been, he always says he’s just out having fun with his buddies, but these days, I tell myself not to believe everything that comes out of his mouth.

 

When he knows I’m not happy with him, he sweet talks me, using his hold on me to his advantage. He tells me that no one will ever love me the way he does, and that he has a hard time showing that he loves me and I usually believe him. Tonight though, he’s so far gone that it’s like there’s a stranger in front of my eyes. I have no idea who he is.

 

“Hey! Where have you been? I wanted to tell you all about what happened today.” I was so excited to tell him that I got to work on my first real photoshoot today. Everything I had been working towards for the last few years finally came through for me and I had one foot in the door. 

 

“Like you care where I’ve been,” he scoffs, starting to unbutton his jeans. I know what he’s expecting, for me to get on my knees, get him off and go to sleep without saying a word to him. He doesn’t want me to have an opinion or dreams anymore. He just wants me to keep quiet and “service” him as he so kindly likes to put it. Since my grandpa died, he’s changed on me. He’s not who he was when I was just a naive 16 year old girl who fell for that boy on her granddaddy's farm. 

 

“I just….well, I worked on a shoot today! The photographer even told me I should get in front of the camera sometime.”

 

“No, Lex, come on, you don’t want to do that, just give it a rest.” He’s annoyed. He hasn’t been a fan of any of this since I first discovered my love for it when I did my friends’ makeup for senior prom.

 

“I wasn’t going to actually get in front of a camera, come on. But I was told I have potential. You should take that as a compliment. Someone thinks I have something special.” I crawl on the bed towards where he’s now laying and put my head on the pillow next to him.

 

He rolls his eyes and shakes his head, fed up with this conversation. “Hon, you’re a simple country girl, how could you possibly be pretty enough to model? The guy was just tryin’ to get a look at your tits. Leave the modeling and the makeup to the hot girls you see in them magazines you’re always looking at.”

 

This isn’t the first time he’s said something like this to me. That my dream of moving to LA is pointless, that I’m meant to marry him, live in his parent’s run down house and pop out a few kids and become a housewife. 

 

“But I think it could be worth a shot, I’ve always wanted to go to California.”

 

“I said enough, Alexis!” he snaps. “You’re never going to California, no more makeup shit, no more photoshoots. This conversation is over.”

 

Tears prick my eyes and I sit back with my head against the headboard. Looking up at the ceiling, I blink away the tears as best I can, but a few manage to spill out onto my cheeks. Brendan sees that he’s made me cry but he doesn’t do a thing to apologize or comfort me. He’s hurt me, he knows it and still, he only thinks of himself.

 

“Now, enough talking, I’m horny.” He puts his hands behind his head and lays there with his eyes closed and legs parted, ready for me to pleasure him. 

 

Things have to change. I can’t do this any more. If Brendan actually thinks that I’m going to put up with this for another minute, he’s seriously mistaken. My grandpa told me before he passed, ‘Don’t waste your time trying to make other people happy. You could pick up elephant shit for a living and if that made you happy, then honey, go get your shovel.’

 

“You make me sick, get out! Just get the fuck out of my life!” I’m shouting so loud that Jackie comes running into my room.

 

“Lexi, wake up, honey you were dreaming.” She shakes me and sits at the edge of my bed. I blink repeatedly until she comes into focus. I’m breathing heavily and there’s a damp spot on the back of my neck where I was sweating a little. 

 

“God, 8 months and that bastard is still haunting my dreams,” I groan when I realize I’m back in reality. 

 

“That one again, huh?” Jackie shakes her head and glances around my room. There’s still some pillows and a blanket on the floor and there’s a condom wrapper laying on top of the night stand which she picks up with two fingers and holds up to show me. “What...happened here last night?” 

 

I giggle and roll over and put my face into the pillow. “I had sex,” I say into the pillow.

  
“Well I gathered that from the mess in here. But I’m curious, with who?”

 

I turn to my side and see a questioning but surprised look on her face. Jackie has been my best friend ever since the 7th grade and knows me inside and out. I tell her everything. The good, the bad and the ugly. When things went south with Brendan, she was there. When I landed my first photoshoot job, she was the first to congratulate me. When I told her I wanted to move out here, she didn't think twice before telling me she was coming too. She's my rock. She's pulled me out of quite a few dark places and I don’t know where I’d be without her. 

 

“You know Ashley’s friend Josh?”

 

Her eyebrows raise even higher than before and her jaw hangs open. “The sexy photoshoot/Hunger Games Josh?”

 

“Yeah,” I chuckle, unable to wipe the grin off my face.

 

“Him? You had sex with him?” The pitch of her voice gets higher and higher with every word that comes out of her mouth. I nod in response, hiding my face in the pillow again. I feel her shake my shoulder and hear her giggle uncontrollably. “Oh my god, jealous! Damn, he’s gorgeous. I hate you.” 

 

I turn back on my side to face her again and she happily shakes her head at me. “Look at you, you can’t stop smiling! You’re glowing! What did that boy do to you?”

 

“Nothing. It was just sex,” I laugh. “Just really, really good sex.”

 

“Yeah, okay. Just sex, I’m sure.” She stands up from my bed and smacks my butt from over the sheet. “Get up, don’t you have a shoot today? I’ll make you coffee and then I want to hear every single detail.”

 

Jackie is a little weary when I end up telling her that Josh and I are now in a friends-with-benefits type situation. She always seems to be looking out for me and she isn’t sure it’s the best thing to do. 

 

“I don’t know, Lex,” she says, taking one last sip of her second cup of coffee. “I just see this going somewhere it shouldn’t. He could use you, you know.”

 

I roll my eyes and get up from the table to clean up the kitchen. “How? He can’t use me when we’re not together. It’s totally fine.”

 

“Okay, but what if you get feelings for him…”

 

“I won’t. I don’t like him like that,” I interrupt.

 

“Okay, you might not now, but what if you do and he ends up getting a girlfriend because you’re not emotionally ready or whatever, and he just casts you aside like yesterday’s trash?”

 

“He won’t. And I won’t fall for him, please. He’s just a friend who I just happen to be sleeping with.”

 

“Who happens to be a hot actor, who happens to have women swooning over him. He could get with a different girl every night and drop you whenever he wants,” she warns.

 

“And if he does, then he does. You’re reading too far into this. I’m not going to get hurt from this thing because I’m not letting myself go down that path. I have no emotions when it comes to Josh. Like when Elena turned off her humanity in season 5.”

 

“God I hated those episodes. And the pink hair, what was she even doing? Damn Julie Plec should be fed to hungry sharks.” I laugh and pick up her mug from the table and take it to the sink to rinse it out. “Seriously though, Lexi, I don’t want to see you hurt again. So, just be careful. I know you’re not, like, together or anything but…”

 

“I know. I’m just going to enjoy all the physical stuff and not get in over my head.”

 

“Yeah, two times in one night sounds pretty enjoyable to me.”

  
  



	7. Chapter 7

JOSH

 

“What’s the plan for tonight, anything? Are we just hanging around here?” my aunt Amanda asks when I join her on my back deck with Andre. The two are catching up under the afternoon sun since Amanda just arrived in town for a few days. 

 

She’s been coming out every so often to look at apartments and job hunt a little since she’s planning to move to LA. I told her she can stay with me if she wants to for a little while. My house may not be that big, but it can easily accommodate the two of us since Andre got a place of his own. I told her she can even babysit Driver whenever I’m out of town, but she refused and said she wants her independence. I guess I can’t stop her from doing what she wants. 

 

I shrug my shoulders and pop open the tab on my Cherry Coke as I sit down next to her at the outdoor table, putting my feet up in front of me. “I don’t know. What do you want to do tonight? We can do whatever.”

 

“Oooh we should go to Hollywood Forever,” Andre says, scrolling through his phone. “Cinespia is showing Something About Mary tonight, I haven’t seen that movie in ages and it’s supposed to be a nice night.”

 

“Yeah, we could do that. I’m tired from the flight anyway, it will be nice to just sit back and relax there for a little bit,” she says. 

 

“Ok, I’ll call that guy we met there and get us tickets, want me to see if Rachel and Heather and all them want to come too?” Andre asks. He’s always quick to volunteer to organize these group outings, he’s better at it than I am. I usually end up leaving people out or mixing up times. I’m lucky I have him to keep me in line, nothing would get done if it wasn’t for him. 

 

“Yeah, sure. Tell them we’ll stop on the way and pick up stuff to eat and whatever.” As Andre starts typing a text to our usual group of friends, my phone dings for a new email. I know it’s my manager by the ringtone I have set for her. Her email says:

 

Josh,

 

Just wanted you to see the photos they’ll be using for the V spread, there’s a few they’ll probably leave out but these were the winners. Looking good! Call me if you need anything.

 

“Oh sweet!” I say as I open the first attachment.The first couple are just of myself looking straight at the camera, which will be used for the cover, I’m assuming. “The photos from that shoot I did last month are in. I’ve been wondering about these.”

 

“How’d they come out?” Amanda asks.

 

I scroll through to the next photos. They’re of Lexi and I on the kitchen set. “Really good, wow.” Her back is facing the camera and the curve of her butt just barely shows under the button down shirt she has on. My hands are wrapped around her and the two of us are just caught up in each other. 

 

As I open the next few photos, my chest starts to tighten, along with my pants. One is a shot of us staring at each other like we want to rip each other’s throats out. Damn she’s good. She’s crazy for thinking she wasn’t going to do a good job. She looks like someone who has been in front of the camera for years. 

 

The next photo shows us kissing, and it looks so natural, not something that’s just for the cameras. It felt that way too. She’s pulling my hair like she’s desperate for me and my hands are on her thighs in an effort to bring her body closer to mine as we’re kissing. It’s fucking hot, too hot. My body starts to heat up from staring at it too long and I have to adjust my position in my seat.

 

“Let’s see!” Amanda says, reaching for my phone. She scrolls through the photos faster than I did and is impressed but she doesn’t have the same kind of reaction I did because she doesn’t understand the connection I have with Lexi. 

 

I don’t remember much from the shoot that well, it was really all a blur to me. But man, I remember every second that I got to be around her, how her lips tasted, how her body felt pressed against me, how her face lit up when I made her laugh, how heavy her breathing got when we were really getting into an intimate scene. She blew me away, and the few times we’ve been together since that shoot have been just as incredible. She’s going to ruin me. And I’m ok with that.

 

“Really good job, Josh. You should be proud. Are you gonna show your mom?” Amanda asks, handing me my phone back.

 

“I might, I don’t know,” I tell her.

 

“Who’s the model they used? She’s pretty.”

 

Andre glanced up at me and gave me that ‘oh here we go’ look and answered for me. “That’s Alexis, one of Josh’s new,” he puts up air quotes as he says, “friends.”

 

“Ahhh, I see. You like her Josh?” Amanda asks.

 

I shrug and start to open my mouth but Andre interrupts. “Yeah he likes her, they’re hooking up.”

 

“Oh. Are you guys dating?”

 

“It’s….kinda complicated right now,” I say.

 

“That’s bullshit, it’s kinda complicated, if you like her, date her. It was complicated with what’s-her-face and you were with her for almost a year. And she wasn’t even that nice, she used you like a wet towel. This girl isn’t like that, is she?”

 

“No, she’s not like that. And we’re not together, it’s just a casual thing.”

 

“Well if it makes you happy, do what you want, I suppose. You should have her come with us tonight, I want to meet her.”

 

****

 

The sun is just setting in the sky when Alexis and her roommate, Jackie, meet up with us at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. I know right away when I see Jackie that she knows about Alexis and I and our situation, if you want to call it that. I’ve only met her once before but I know that she and Lexi are extremely close. While Andre is introducing Lexi to Amanda, Jackie pulls me aside.

 

“Josh, I need to talk to you for a second.”

 

“Okay, I almost ate your pizza, I’m sorry,” I admit.

 

She laughs and shakes her head. “It’s not that. I know that you and Lexi are hooking up or whatever, and that’s cool, it’s not my business, but if you’re in this to hurt her in any way, I’ll kill you.”

 

“Oh, I’m not one to hurt anybody, you can trust me.” I glance over at Lexi who is chatting away with Amanda and Andre and look back at Jackie. “I just really like her a lot, I know she has this guard up,” I whisper. “So I’m treading lightly.”

 

“Good. Cause I can’t see her get hurt again, she’s my best friend.”

 

“I know. I’ve been hurt before too. I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize this with her.”

 

It may take some time for Jackie to completely trust me with her best friend but she has nothing to worry about. If I genuinely care for someone, I'll do whatever it takes to keep that person around for as long as I can, and that is my only intention with Alexis.

 

When the movie starts, everyone gets into a comfortable spot on the blankets that have been laid out for us. I sit in a folding chair with my feet propped up on one of the coolers. I offered Lexi and Jackie a seat but they wanted to sit on the ground. The sun is now out of the sky and there's a small breeze that cools down the late summer air.

 

“It’s getting kinda chilly out here, did you bring a hoodie?” I hear Lexi comment to Jackie as her shoulders shudder a little. 

 

“Here, I brought a blanket if you want it.” Andre digs through his backpack and tosses one of my old Cincinnati Reds blankets to her. She wraps it around her shoulders and dips her hand in the bag of Cheetos she and Jackie have been sharing as she focuses her attention back to the screen. 

 

As I glance around at everyone in my party, I notice that they’re all semi-wasted, laughing at Ben Stiller getting his dick caught in his zipper on the screen. Since no one is paying much attention to what I’m doing, it’s a perfect opportunity for me to steal Lexi for a little bit.

 

I casually get up from my chair to take a seat on the ground next to her and she takes her eyes off the screen for a second and glances at me as she sucks the Cheeto dust off her fingers. Her eyes shine bright when she smiles at me and lets out a small giggle.

 

"Hey,” she greets me.

 

"Hello there," I smile back. "I forgot to tell you I saw the photos they'll be using in the magazine."

 

"You did? How do they look? I'm sure you were great, I probably looked like a freak of nature."

 

I chuckle a little and rub my hand up and down her back. "No, stop. You looked absolutely gorgeous. I'll let you take a look at them later if you want." 

 

"Okay."

 

"Oh and there's usually a release party before the magazine comes out. It wouldn't be for another few weeks, but would you want to go with me? Not like a date or anything but you'd be able to meet some top people in the business, you could get your name out there."

 

"Yeah, I'll think about it. I've never been to anything like that before, it could be fun. I'll let you know."

 

I tug on the corner of the blanket in an effort to steal some of it for myself. “Now I'm a little cold. Can we share this?” I ask her.

 

“Yeah, sure.” She pulls the blanket off her shoulders and I help her lay it out overtop of us. “Better now?” she asks, nudging me with her shoulder.

 

“Mmhm,” I breathe and lean in close to her to steal a Cheeto from the bag in her lap. I catch a whiff of the small amount of perfume she has on. She told me the name of it once before but it's escaping me now. It’s intoxicating, I remember smelling it on her neck the night at the club when we were dancing and it brings back all the memories from that night. 

 

I try to ignore the stirring in my loins and turn my attention back to the movie, but the craving I have to be close to her is almost killing me and I find it hard to concentrate on anything else. I casually brush my fingers on her leg under the blanket and keep my hand there as I wait for her reaction.

 

She doesn’t want it to be too obvious to the others around us, so she continues to keep her eyes on the movie, but I can see by the smirk on her face that just my simple gesture has made her unable to focus on what’s on the screen in front of her. When I move my hand further up her leg, she adjusts her position, sitting up straight and she gnaws on her lower lip as she tries so hard to keep a straight face.

 

“Is this bothering you?” I whisper in her ear so no one will hear me. It’s not like they would, there’s so many people here. 

 

Lexi just shakes her head no and licks her lips. She gives me permission to keep going by scooting closer to me and positioning herself so that my hand has free range of wherever it wants to go under this cozy little blanket of ours. Her eyes dart around the area surrounding us so that she’s sure no one is watching as my fingers inch closer and closer to her warm center. 

 

“What about this?” I ask, grazing her slit over her yoga pants. Her body jerks instantly and I watch as her eyes darken. “Didn't you say you'll try anything once?” I ask before taking her earlobe in my mouth and sucking on it. She nods and scoots even closer towards me and I can feel goosebumps pop up on her skin. 

 

She turns her head towards me and presses her lips against mine quickly so no one sees. Even though the kiss is short, it sends waves of energy from my lips down to all of my limbs and if there was no one else here, I’d have my way with her on this very lawn.

 

My fingers continue teasing her under the blanket and I can tell that I’m making her coil up by the way she grabs my forearm tight. “What if I got you off right here in front of all these people? When your roommate is like 4 feet away from us.” My finger presses harder against her and I feel the dampness that I’ve created. Her eyes flutter shut for just a moment then shoot back open when I say, “She could easily look over here and see me doing this to you.”

 

She leans in close to me and releases her grip on my arm and gives me a warning. “Josh, if you don’t keep going, I swear I’ll never speak to you again.”

 

I stifle out a laugh and she does the same, leaning further against me to the point that if we got any closer, she’d be on top of me. This girl is making a mess out of me and she has no idea what she’s doing. I’ve had crushes before and I’ve been (or at least I thought I’ve been) in love before, but Alexis is a different kind of breed. 

 

Maybe I’m so into her because I know I can’t have all of her just yet and something about her just makes me want to keep trying to make her see that we’d be good together. God, I just want to take her back to my house this very second and wrap her up between my sheets and spend all night holding onto her, listening to her breathe, running my fingers through her hair - all that romantic couple-type stuff, but I can’t. So I guess if I can’t have any of that right now, I’ll take her however I can get her.

 

"Ok, you're the boss. But if we get caught I'm blaming you," I murmur.

 

"Me?! You started this whole thing. And you shouldn’t start something you can’t finish,” she scolds, cocking an eyebrow at me.

 

“Who says I won’t finish what I started?” I reply as I dip my hand under her pants and below her underwear and sweep my index finger through her folds. She gasps at the feeling of my finger inside of her and catches the attention of Jackie. I can't help but laugh when I watch her try to keep a straight face.

 

"What?" Jackie asks her.

 

"Nothing, I think I got bit by something," she lies. 

 

"Oh, ok," Jackie says. "Do you guys want anything else to drink?" she asks as she sits on her knees.

 

"No I'm ok, thanks," I answer and Lexi shakes her head and watches as her roommate crawls towards the cooler. When she's out of sight, Lexi lets out a sigh of relief and turns back to me.

 

"Oh my god, I hate you!" she whispers.

 

"What did I do?" I chuckle.

 

"You got me all worked up. We can't do this here." She looks around the area, searching for a private spot where we could hide. "Is there anywhere we can go to be alone?"

 

"Bathroom?" I suggest, but she grimaces. "My car? It's small, but the back seat is roomy."

 

She coyly smiles and the two of us make a quick dash to my car that's parked in a lot not too far away from the cemetery. The tinted windows give us plenty of privacy, but anyone walking by will know exactly what's going on by the sounds of Lexi moaning in ecstasy. 

 

Within minutes, the two of us are clinging onto each other's bodies as our orgasms rip through us like one giant tidal wave. After we clean ourselves up, get dressed and exit the car, Lexi presses me up against the car door and kisses me just as tenderly as she did when we were watching the movie. 

 

"Sorry, I just felt like doing that before we go back in," she confesses after she pulls away.

 

That has to mean something, right? 


	8. Chapter 8

-LEXI-

I have no idea what propelled me into kissing Josh the way I did after we had sex in his car, but I felt bad about it for the next couple of days. I didn't want to lead him on in any way. Jackie told me that I didn't have anything to worry about, but I still kept Josh at a safe distance for a few days so he wouldn't think I was developing any romantic feelings for him, because I'm not. And I hope he knows that. 

As I'm driving home from my shift at the bookstore, Josh's name pops up on my phone and I automatically get butterflies, hoping that he won't be wondering why I've been a little distant this past week. I really shouldn't avoid him, I'd look like an asshole, so I answer, putting my phone on speaker and dropping it into my lap.

"Hey Josh, what's up?"

"Hi Lex, are you busy tonight?" He sounds frantic, like maybe he's nervous or something.

"Um, no, I'm just driving home from the bookstore, why?"

He let's out a sigh of relief and says, "I have a huge gigantic favor to ask you. I'm kinda stuck."

“What is it, are you ok?” I ask, a little worried that he's in trouble.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just got called down to San Diego for a meeting with this screenwriter at the last fucking minute and Driver just had to have minor surgery on his front paw and he can’t walk all that much and no one is around this week and I really don’t want to take him to the kennel or leave him by himself. Do you think you could come watch him for me? It's just for tonight."

“Oh! Yeah of course I’ll watch him.”

"Ugh, you're the best, thank you, seriously. He’s really not any trouble and I have plenty of food and stuff here, you can hang out, bring Jackie if you want, whatever."

I pull into my driveway and put my car in park. “I’m happy to do it. When do you leave?”

“My agent is coming in an hour to pick me up. I’m sorry it’s totally short notice.”

“No big deal, really. I’ll just get a bag of stuff together.” I step out of the car and walk towards the front door. Jackie is already home, she's been working on a project for work all day.

“Oh, my hot tub is working too if you want to use it, bring your bathing suit. Or you can just go naked, I‘d be ok with that, ” he jokes.

"Ha! We'll see," I chuckle and start making my way inside the house and up to my bedroom to put a change of clothes together. “I’ll just need your address.”

“I’ll text that to you, just don’t share it with anyone and you’ll need a code for the gate.”

"Ok, I'll see you soon." My pulse starts racing at the thought of seeing him again, even if it's just a short amount of time. I may not feel anything for him but the man knows how to get my blood pumping to the point where I'll go along with anything he says. I don't even think he realizes what he does to me with just a single touch.

I invite Jackie to come along with me to house/dog sit but she’s in such a zone with her project that she can’t possibly pull herself away from it. So it’s just me and Josh’s dog, whom I’ve never met alone in his house, which I’ve never been in before. This should be quite an adventure. I pack a small bag of clothes and toiletries and program Josh’s address into my GPS and make my way out the door. 

Josh lives in the Hollywood Hills, about 20 minutes from my house. As I drive down his street, I pass gate after gate, all surrounded by trees and concrete walls and I wonder who lives in these very well-hidden houses. Tom Cruise? George Clooney? I could very well be driving past Beyonce and Jay-Z’s house for all I know and the thought is crazy to me. I'm still not totally adjusted to the Hollywood lifestyle out here. It's going to take some time.

I reach the gate to Josh’s house and the entrance looks the same as the other houses on the street and I have no idea what waits for me on the other side. I punch in the security code on the keypad outside and wait patiently for the gate as it slides open. There are trees literally everywhere when I pull up the driveway. It looks like something out of a dream. Now I know why they call this place The Treehouse. It’s stunning.

I park in one of the empty spaces in the large garage, where Josh told me to go, and gather my belongings. There’s a Jeep and an Audi parked beside me and on the other side are three motorcycles lined up in a row. One of them stands out to me. It’s a shiny blue Harley Davidson and it's so pretty, it reminds me of one Brendan had a few years ago. I always wanted to go for rides on it but he didn't even want me touching it let alone riding on it. As I run my fingers over the Kentucky decale on the side, I see the door from inside the house open out of the corner of my eye.

“Like it? That one is my favorite,” Josh comments, leaning on the door frame.

“Yeah, they’re all really nice bikes, Josh. I’m impressed.”

“I’ll take you for a ride sometime if you want to go,” he suggests, leaning up from the door frame.

“Yeah, sure," I smile and sling my bag over my shoulder and start to walk towards him.

“Come on in, my agent will be here in a little bit but I’ll show you around.”

I follow him inside and shut the door behind me. The inside of his house looks different than what I expected, judging by the looks of it on the outside. It’s modern and surprisingly, tastefully decorated. I’m impressed that a 21 year old guy has such style, but then again, I assume he hired a decorator to make it look nice.

"I'd ask Andre to come over and watch Driver but he's in San Francisco this week and seriously, you were the second person I thought of calling."

"It's really no problem Josh," I tell him, waving my hand in the air.

As he leads me further into the house, I hear the slow clacking of paws on a tile floor in another room and I figure it’s Driver. Poor dog, Josh said he can’t even walk very well. I had a dog when I was growing up so I really have a soft spot for them. If Jackie and I had a bigger yard, we'd get one of our own.

“So there’s food in a bin in the pantry for him, you should just feed him once later tonight since he already ate this morning. And after he eats, he’s supposed to take one of these.” He holds up a small pill bottle from the vet. “To prevent infections and stuff. Just hold it out for him, he’ll take it right out of your hand.” 

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the grey Pitbull make his way into the kitchen and I can’t help but feel sorry for him when I see him walk with a little bandage on his foot. “Awww!”

“And this is Driver. He’s usually a lot more excited when guests come over.” His tail wags and he walks up to me and sniffs my leg.

“Why did he need surgery?”

“He stepped on something in the yard, like a stick or wood chip. He was yelping so bad, my neighbor called to see if someone was getting murdered.”

“Oh my god.” I bend down and let Driver sniff my hand and he licks the top of it. He's so gentle and sweet, I'm already in love with him.

“Yeah, he’s a tough guy though, aren’t you buddy?” He gets down to Driver’s eye level and scratches the top of his head. “Are you going to be good for Lexi?” 

Josh laughs when Driver licks the side of his face and stands up. He quickly gives me a brief tour of the rest of his house and tells me everything I need to know while I’ll be there, and within fifteen minutes, he gets a text from his agent who is at his front gate. 

“So if you need anything, just call me on my cell. I’ll be able to answer in the next couple hours when we’re driving, but you should be fine.” He bends down to scratch Driver’s head once more and stands back up.

“I think I have everything under control. I'll try not to burn your house down or anything.”

“Oh good, let's not do that. Thank you for doing this, Lex,” he says and leans in to kiss my cheek, bringing back those butterflies in my stomach that I thought had gone away. But with Josh's lips anywhere near me, it's hard to ignore the tingling sensation I get when I'm around him.  There’s a knock at the front door, snapping me out of my trance. “I owe you one.” 

I push him away with a playful shove. “Stop, get out of here. I’ll let you know if I need anything.”

“I’ll text you when we’re leaving to come back. It shouldn’t be too late.”

After he leaves, I take some time to get more acquainted with Josh’s house. It’s small but the decent sized deck outside makes up for the lack of square footage inside. There are plenty of chairs and places to lounge around. Since he doesn’t have the yard space for a pool, he has a rather large hot tub just outside of the living room.

I walk back inside and Driver is resting comfortably on his doggy bed in the living room. I don’t want to disturb him so I make my way to Josh’s bedroom where he said I can sleep tonight and put my bag of stuff down on the bed. His room is cozy and inviting, but also very masculine and sits next to a charming little patio that is surrounded by shrubbery. 

His bathroom is pretty big and rustic looking. The shower is surrounded by glass doors and has a floor to ceiling view of the greenery in the backyard. It gives enough privacy but it’s still pretty out in the open. I've never seen anything like it before.

As I continue throughout the house, I spot a lot of Josh’s personality in his belongings. His hat and shoe collection makes me laugh because he’s always talking about his shoes, although he really only wears a couple pairs. 

There are photos in almost every room of the house. Beautiful ones too, of places I’ve never been to before and of people I don’t recognize. The three people who look to be his brother, mom and dad look like they make up a nice bunch. I know by the way he talks about them, he loves them as much as I love my own family. 

As nighttime approaches, I take a dip in Josh's hot tub and enjoy the relaxing atmosphere his house has. Then Driver and I spend some quality time watching a few movies in Josh's media room before I decide to turn in for the night.

***

"Alexis? It's just a dream! Wake up." Hours must have passed when I'm awakened and Josh is repeating my name and shaking me. I blink until he comes into focus and feel him wipe my cheeks which are wet from crying.

“Are you alright?” he asks, sitting down beside me and looking concerned. Shit. I don't know what I was even dreaming about this time, but he must have heard whatever I was saying in my sleep.

“Yeah, I was just dreaming. I’m okay. How was San Diego?” I ask, trying to change the subject.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You were crying about someone named Brendan. Who's that?"

Figures, I dream about the asshole again. I'm not surprised. “It’s no one that matters anymore. Really, I’m okay. It was just a dream.” 

It's too soon to talk to him about what happened between Brendan and I, so I steer him in another direction as I place my hand on his arm and reach for him. Without another word, I pull him down by the collar to meet my lips. He resists at first, afraid that I'm still shaken from my nightmare and he puts his hand on my cheek and strokes his thumb over it. 

"Are you sure you're ok?" he murmurs.

“Yes, I’m fine. I swear." I glance down at his lips then back up to his intense stare. "Kiss me Josh," I whisper, rubbing my hand over the top of his thigh. With a groan, he leans in and seals his mouth over mine, his lips furiously massaging my own as his tongue wrestles with mine.

He sighs deeply into the kiss as his body relaxes and pushes the sheets covering me to the side so he can climb on top of me. Within minutes, he and I are tangled up in his sheets and my hands are clutching the rails of his headboard for dear life as Josh’s slow and steady thrusts pick up speed. Every kiss, every time he breathes in my ear, every time I feel him push into me, I’m one step closer to my peak and one step closer to forgetting about the fact that Josh caught me crying in my sleep over my ex.

"Jesus Lexi, you feel so fucking good," he groans against the skin on my neck. Our limbs are entwined and I don’t know where he begins and I end. I watch his eyes close tight as determination washes over his face. His only goal right now is to get me to a state of total euphoria and I’m almost there.

“Oh god, Josh,” I breathe, tightening my grip on him and wrapping my legs around his waist. “I’m, I’m gonna….” I can’t even finish my sentence because I’m left breathless when a wave crests over me and my walls flutter around him. My body goes limp but I still hold onto him as he keeps pushing in and out of me and in a matter of seconds Josh's jaw is clenched tight and he's shouting expletives that I can't understand. 

But as he pulls out and spills himself onto my chest, he groans, "Oh baby!"

 


	9. Chapter 9

LEXI

 

"Oh baby!" 

 

I see Josh's eyes grow wide the second those words spill out of his mouth. He knows what he just said and I'm just glad he realized it. If he had used any term of endearment like that before I came, I would have lost my focus and wouldn't have been able to let my orgasm wash over me the way it did. 

 

He climbs off me without saying a word and disappears into his bathroom for a moment and I hear him sigh loudly in frustration at himself. He comes back with a towel to clean up the remnants from his orgasm on my chest and turns on the light on his bedside table. He does the best he can wiping me off but there's some cum dripping down my side so I take the towel from him to finish cleaning myself off. 

 

"I uh...that just kind of slipped out. I didn't mean to call you that," he admits, reaching for his underwear on the floor.

 

I feel bad for him. His tone of voice is wrecking me. He couldn't help that he just blurted it. His mind wasn’t focused on his words. The only head he was thinking with wasn't the one on his shoulders.

 

"It's ok, Josh," I say, shaking my head. "It happens." 

 

"I understand if you don't want to stay the rest of the night," he says, tossing the towel on the floor and picking up my panties and shorts.

 

"Seriously, it's no big deal. You were caught up in the moment, I get it."

 

"I'm just used to being...romantically involved with someone when I sleep with them. So I tend to say that kind of stuff sometimes."

 

"I said it’s fine, so stop defending yourself." He smiles warmly at me, nodding understandably. "And I'll stay the rest of the night, but it might be better if we don't share a bed, you know what I mean?" I start to get up and slip my shirt on over my head. "I'll go crash in your guest room."

 

"No, you stay in here." He pats my arm and makes his way to the doorway. "I'll go in the other room. Get some sleep, try not to have any more nightmares ok? You scared the shit out of me."

 

"Okay. Goodnight," I smile, settling back on his pillow. 

 

"Goodnight."

 

***

 

I’m awoken the next morning to the sound of Driver barking and Josh laughing. Driver didn’t make a peep the night before so I’m intrigued as to why he’s barking now and what Josh is laughing at. I shuffle out of Josh’s bed and use his bathroom before walking out into the kitchen, where the commotion is coming from. Josh is teasing Driver with one of his chew toys and Driver is trying to grab it but Josh keeps lifting it high in the air out of Driver’s reach.

 

“What are you doing to your poor dog?” I ask, interrupting their private moment.

 

“Oh, did we wake you up? Sorry. I thought I’d get him playing a little so he can start moving around.”

 

I chuckle at how cute the two are with each other and move further into Josh's kitchen. “Yeah, you woke me up, but it's ok. He should probably try moving around a little.” I can’t help but laugh at Josh’s appearance as I sit back against his kitchen counter. His hair is laying every which way and he’s only in a pair of basketball shorts and socks and sandals. He's such a dork, but a gorgeous one at that. I hope he's ok after last night.

 

“What?” he asks, gazing up at me as Driver is still trying to grab his toy.

 

“Nothing,” I respond, folding my arms over my chest. “You two are just cute, I don’t know.”

 

He chuckles and finally tosses Driver his toy and wipes his hands on his shorts. “Do you want to stay for breakfast?"

 

I glance at the clock. It's still pretty early and I don't have to be at the bookstore for my shift until the afternoon. Normally I wouldn't stay for breakfast, I wouldn't have even stayed the whole night if Josh was anyone else, but this is a different situation to me. Obviously Josh is more than just a convenient roll in the hay. 

 

He's becoming one of my really good friends out here in LA. I can talk to him about almost anything and he'll actually listen and will have a genuine response for what I say. We can tease each other without being too worried about if it will negatively impact the other person because it's all in good fun. He keeps me on my toes too, surprising me every time he shares something about himself that I didn't know before. I decide to hang out for a little while longer and stay for breakfast since he owes me for dog sitting anyway.

 

We chit chat about the meeting he had in San Diego as we enjoy the morning sun on his porch while we eat. He tells me a little about the next film he'll be working on and in just a couple weeks, he'll be going to New York to get started with pre production work. We agree to keep the casual sex thing up as much as we can before he has to leave, since he'll be pretty lonely in New York and I really don't have my sights on anyone else.

 

***

 

"A poker table?” My fingers glide over the smooth green surface when he leads me into his game room to show me some photos he took on a recent trip to Italy. I’ve never played anything other than Old Maid or Go Fish, so I don’t know the first thing about poker. 

 

“Yeah, do you play?”

 

“No.” I shake my head. “I’ve seen it on TV but never learned.”

 

“It's not that hard. Sit down, I'll teach you.” He pulls one of the chairs out and smacks the back of it with his palm then goes to a bookcase and picks up a silver briefcase and sets it down on the table. He opens it like it's filled with precious jewels, so careful not to damage anything inside.

 

“I play all the time. This is my favorite set.” He pulls a few blue chips out of their holders and slides them to me. “They’re custom chips, they use these in the casinos in Las Vegas. The pros use these babies.”

 

“Wow.” I try to sound amazed, holding the colorful disc between my fingers.

 

“I know, you don’t get it cause you don’t play, but you will eventually.” He scoots his chair up closer to the table and takes out a stack of chips in each color. White, blue, green and red columns sit before me and I feel like just from looking at the chips that this is going to take forever for me to learn this.

 

He takes a deck of cards in his hands and shuffles it and I’m mesmerized watching his long fingers bend to hold the cards in place as they fold into each other. He goes through the deck a few times before placing it in front of the table. 

 

He explains the betting rules first. He uses terms like 'blinds' and 'antes' and it all sounds like gibberish to me, but he has a way with words that makes the hardest sounding game seem so simple to understand. 

 

He deals each of us two cards, both face down and tells me that I can peek at my cards when I’m in a real game but for the sake of explaining, he turns them face up. I have an Ace and a Nine, both of Spades. 

 

Next he lays three cards face up in the middle of the table. A Four of Clubs, King of Spades and Four of Hearts. He goes over what the cards are called when they're laid out, what bets can take place, what folding means, what raising a bet is and so on. He tells me I don’t have a good enough hand to raise, so he continues. 

 

The next card laid out is an Eight of Spades. Still nothing. But he says that I have four Spades so I could have a winning hand, depending on the final card dealt. He flips over the fifth card and sure enough, it’s a Seven of Spades. I have a flush, a hand that beats his two pair. 

 

We go over the game play several times, shuffling through the deck twice. He lets me take guesses as to which hands I should play and when I should bet and so on. He beats me five times but I think the more I play, the more I’ll understand everything. 

 

He deals both of us two cards again and I take a look at what I have, covering my cards so he can’t see. Two Aces.  'Yes. Aces are good, ' I think to myself.

 

The first three cards in the middle are an Eight of Clubs, Ten of Diamonds and Eight of Spades.  'I can’t do anything with that. No, wait. There’s a two-pair. That’s a hand Josh explained to me.' I raise my bet, pushing more of my chips into the center of the table.

 

Josh stares at me blankly, gnawing on his bottom lip, trying to guess from my facial expression what cards I have and why I just raised the way I did. I smile back at him, confident in my decision and wait for his move.

 

“I’ll see you and I’ll raise you,” he says, proudly pushing his chips towards mine.

 

“You think your cards can beat mine?” I taunt.

 

“I think you don’t have a clue what you’re doing and it’s really very cute. Ready for the next card?” His face is still serious and it makes my cheeks burn. I nod and he turns the next card over. An Ace of Diamonds.  'Yes! Three of a kind. That’s really good.'

 

“Oh, well, it’s time to pack up sir. I am all in,” I say, shoving the rest of my chips in the middle of the table.

 

“Are you shit talking me right now? What could you possibly have? Two pair? Three of a kind? Do you even know what you’re doing?”

 

“Yes I do know what I'm doing, what’s your bet? Or are you too scared?” I make a chicken noise and flap my arms up and down, egging him on.

 

“Ok. I’ll call.” He has more chips than I do and meets my bet. "And I'll make you a deal, raise the stakes a little." He sits up straight, leaning his elbows on the table. "Whoever wins this gets a sexual favor of their choosing, sound good?"

 

I eye him up and down, focusing on the way his fingers look wrapped around his remaining stack of chips. I have some things in mind about what I want from him so I smile and nod my head. "You're on. Flip the card over."

 

He deals the last card, a King of Spades and flips his cards over to show me what he has and I do the same to mine and he smiles wide. “See, Lexi, the thing about poker is that you have a good poker face. Which you do not have, at all. I knew what cards you were holding just by the look on your face."

 

He has an Eight of Hearts and King of Clubs. A full house, which beats my three of a kind. Dammit.

 

He looks up from the center of the table and stares at me from under his furrowed brows, his hazel green eyes searing like lasers into mine, making my cheeks heat up. He has me on the spot. I have to look away from him because I'm all flustered. He laughs at my reaction as he collects the cards in his hands. "See that's how you do a poker face, none of that giggling, trash talking stuff."

 

"Ok, fine, you obviously won. How would you like your prize?"

 

Josh laughs and shakes his head. "We don't have to, it's ok."

 

"No, I want to." I get up and stand behind where he's sitting and run my fingers along his bare back. "Come on, tell me what you want me to do."

 

He spins around in his chair and faces me and bites his bottom lip as he eyes my chest. "You're sure?" he asks.

 

"Yes! I told you, I'll try anything," I assure him. He's always giving in to my desires, it's only fair that he gets something in return.

 

"Ok, get undressed." He gets out of his chair as I lift my shirt up over my head and pushes his chair aside. "Have you ever done 69?"

 

"Just once but it didn't last very long," I tell him. Brendan and I tried it but he wasn't too into it at the time. "That's what you want?"

 

"Yeah." He walks over to me and cradles my face in his hands and kisses my lips. I lean into him, placing my hands on his sides and he guides us towards the poker table. I can already feel him harden through the fabric in his shorts. It's amazing to me how fast his body reacts.

 

We finish undressing and he lays on the table face up and I crawl over him, steadying myself so I don't fall and settle my head between his legs while he holds my hips and makes any adjustments he needs to so his mouth can reach my entrance.

 

He doesn't give me a warning before running his tongue up my center, just once to taste me. I gasp at the sensation at first, but relax when he dives in again, tightening his grip on my hips.

 

I grab his shaft at the base to keep it at the right angle before enveloping it in my mouth, swirling my tongue over the head. He groans at the feeling my lips and tongue are giving him, only adding to the sensation he's giving me between my own legs. 

 

We both work together at finding the right speed and amount of pressure for each other as we simultaneously get each other off. Josh's tongue has magical powers that take me to the stars and I continue milking him, increasing the amount of suction around his cock once my orgasm passes. He digs his fingers into my hips so hard I feel like he'll leave bruises but I keep going until he gives me a verbal warning that he's going to explode. 

 

For the rest of the day, even during my shift at the bookstore, my legs tremble from last night and this morning's activities. Thinking about his tongue in between my legs serves as a nice distraction from my uneventful afternoon. He's wearing me out both physically and mentally, but I honestly can't get enough of him and I wouldn't have him any other way.

  
  



End file.
